Federal authorities didn’t tell a southern Texas school district that one of its fifth-grade science teachers had been indicted on drug trafficking charges, and he continued teaching for a month after his indictment, school officials said Tuesday.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents plucked David Ramirez, known on the street as Devil according to prosecutors, from Rio Grande City’s General Ricardo Sanchez Elementary School last week.
On Dec. 10, a federal grand jury indicted him and two others on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute at least 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of marijuana.
An arrest warrant was issued that day. Yet according to his class schedule, Ramirez went on teaching his students about weather systems and other topics until his arrest Thursday. DEA spokesman Wendell Campbell said he didn’t know why, but would look into it.
Roel Gonzalez, superintendent of the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District, said the district was never given notice that one of its teachers was indicted or about to be arrested.
“They just came and took him” from the school, Gonzalez said. “I find it kind of unusual.”
Told by a reporter Tuesday of the charges Ramirez faced, Gonzalez said it bothered him that he was left in the dark.
“I think we should have been notified,” he said. “I’m the one who will have to answer to the parents.”
According to the indictment, the drug trafficking conspiracy dates to July 2006 and continued up to the indictment in December. The counts for possession in excess of 1,000 kilograms of marijuana cover 2006 and 2007, when Ramirez would have been teaching. He has been teaching for the school district for six years.
If convicted of the charges he faces, Ramirez could face 10 years to life in prison. His attorney, Eduardo Ray Ramirez, did not immediately respond to a message left at his office seeking comment.
Ramirez and co-defendants, Vicente Vargas and Jose Angel Garza Jr. would also have to forfeit any property used in committing the crimes or derived from the drug trafficking. The indictment specifically mentioned about $2.7 million in cash.
An attorney for Garza did not return a call for comment. It was not clear if Vargas had obtained an attorney.
