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Last updated on Monday, September 16, 2013
(BLOOMFIELD) - Three students are accused of being involved in a drug deal that allegedly happened Thursday morning during school hours inside Bloomfield High School.
One student, 18-year-old Brandon Roudebush, of Bloomfield was arrested by Bloomfield Town Marshal Ken Tharp.
The second student, a 16-year-old male, was interviewed and also arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center. The third student, a 15-year-old female, was interviewed and released to her mother's custody with a promise to appear in court.
The Greene County Daily World reports, the alleged deal was brought to the attention of school administrators after an employee walked into a men's restroom and witnessed the two males standing near each other, one with money in his hand, the other with a hand in a pocket, and the employee overheard part of their conversation. The employee went to the office and notified Principal Stella Royal.
Principals Royal and David Dean pulled the two students from their classrooms and asked them to remove items from their pockets in the high school office. They reported Roudebush was in possession Lortab, a Schedule III controlled substance, and $124 cash. The juvenile male was also allegedly in possession of Lortabs.
School administrators contacted Greene County Juvenile Probation Officer Julie Johnson who arrived at the school -- she requested assistance from law enforcement. Town Marshal Tharp and Greene County Sheriff's Deputy Brad Deckard responded.
Roudebush admitted to selling six Lortabs to the male juvenile for $4 a pill. He told police the juvenile paid him $11 and was supposed to pay the rest later. He told the police the pills came from his own previously valid prescription and he only sold it because he didn't have a job, his girlfriend was pregnant and he was trying to get money to pay the bills for the baby.
The male juvenile was interviewed at the sheriff's department after his guardian was notified and arrived at the jail. He was also advised of his rights, waived them and agreed to speak to police. He allegedly bought the pills for a friend, the female juvenile, who asked him if he could get them.
Through texts, Facebook messages and face-to-face conversations, he made arrangements to purchase the six Lortabs from Roudebush and the female gave him money in the school hallway - $11 for four tablets. He gave officers some information on the identity of the juvenile female, but not her name.
Administrators were then able to determine who the female was and through the school's video camera system saw the two juveniles meet in the hallway and saw the female hand what appeared to be money to the male.
According to an affidavit prepared by Tharp, the female told police she had asked the male for the tablets because "she had heard that he knew where to get stuff." She said the arrangements were made but before the tablets were delivered to her, the principals and the police were involved.
The lockers of all three students were sealed in order to preserve evidence until search warrants could be obtained.
No additional information on the charges of the teens is being released.
Roudebush appeared in court Friday afternoon and was charged with dealing a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance in or within 1,000 feet of school property.
He was appointed a public defender and bail was set at $40,000 surety with a ten percent allowed - he could be released on $4,000 cash.
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