Pubdate: Tue,  7 May 2002
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2002, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371

POLICE: TEACHER ARRESTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING IN MIAMI

MIAMI- A teacher of homebound students has been charged with drug 
trafficking after investigators searching his home found more than 
two pounds of cocaine and 747 tablets of the anxiety drug Xanax.

Robert Anthony Menendez has been charged with trafficking cocaine, a 
first-degree felony, and three counts of possession, Miami-Dade 
police said.

According to police, Menendez gave narcotics investigators written 
permission to search his home Friday. They found more than two pounds 
of cocaine, a gram of marijuana and unprescribed narcotics: 12 Viagra 
pills and 747 tablets of Xanax.

Menendez, who turns 34 Saturday, has been a middle school social 
studies teacher at Merrick Educational Center in Coral Gables since 
1994, according to district records.

Menendez teaches students medically unable to attend school through 
conference telephone calls, Principal Judith Slovin said Monday.

If convicted on the trafficking charge, he faces a mandatory minimum 
sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Menendez was being held at a pretrial detention center on $261,000 
bail late Monday. He is scheduled for arraignment before Miami-Dade 
Circuit Judge David Young on May 24.

Menendez has no prior criminal history, according to law enforcement records.

It could not immediately be determined early Tuesday if Menendez had 
an attorney.

"He was responsible, as far as I knew," Slovin said. "I didn't have 
any problems with his performance."

Information from: The Miami Herald
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MAP posted-by: Josh