DIZZY OPENING FOR D12 SEPT 16TH IN CLEVELAND

GS student held for trial on pot charges By Joe Napsha TRIBUNE-REVIEW Friday, November 9, 2001Buzz up!A suspended Greensburg Salem Senior High School student accused of having 11 bags of marijuana in his book bag last month used the school bathroom to take orders for marijuana sales to fellow students, authorities said. Lisa Mason, an assistant principal at the school, testified Thursday in a preliminary hearing for Delvon Thompson, 18, of Jefferson Street, Greensburg, that she found a large plastic bag with 10 smaller plastic bags of suspected marijuana, plus another bag with more marijuana in Thompson's book bag on Oct. 5.District Justice James Albert of Greensburg ordered Thompson held for trial in Westmoreland County Court on charges of possession of a controlled substance and possession with intent to deliver. A person convicted of drug trafficking within 1,000 feet of a school would face a two-year mandatory prison sentence.Mason said students gave her tips that Thompson was dealing drugs in school. In her investigation, she learned that Thompson displayed a pattern of leaving class to meet with fellow students in a boys' bathroom. The people that Thompson was meeting and walking with around the school were either accused of prior drug activity or suspected of being drug dealers, Mason said.Male teachers confronted Thompson when he met with another student in the boys' bathroom at 8:20 a.m. Oct. 5. After Thompson's book bag was retrieved from a classroom, Mason said he initially denied knowing the drugs were in the book bag, and later said those drugs were not his.Greensburg police Detective James Williams said the substance tested positive for marijuana in a field test he conducted. Thompson's book bag contained between ½ ounce and 1 ounce of marijuana, which had a street value of about $130, Williams said.The substance was sent to the state police crime laboratory for analysis and the plastic bags were checked for fingerprints, Williams said. A report on the tests has not been completed.Williams said the other student in the bathroom with Thompson did not possess any drugs and was not charged with any crime. Police are attempting to determine the source of the drugs.Williams said he believed that Thompson intended to sell the drugs, even though police did not find any money on Thompson that would indicate he was paid for the drug deal. The suspect did not have any drug paraphernalia, such as rolling papers or a pipe that would indicate the marijuana was for personal use, Williams said.When county Assistant Public Defender John Sweeney questioned Williams about whether the defendant could have purchased the marijuana in those individual bags for personal use, Williams indicated the buyer would pay more money to buy the drug that way.The detective said police believe that a drug buyer would "order up" a quantity of the marijuana in the morning, the money would be delivered later in the day and the drugs dropped off, sometimes around the pop machines near the cafeteria.Thomas Shipley, high school principal, said yesterday that school officials have monitored that area of the school.Mason said the Greensburg Salem School Board conducted an expulsion hearing last month. The board may take a vote on the matter at its meeting on Wednesday, she said.Details of student expulsion hearings typically are kept confidential.Header Banner Made with MyBannerMaker.com! Click here to make your own!