Coked-Up Kindergarten Teacher Pleads Guilty

(Temecula, California) A 47-year-old mother of two and kindergarten teacher at French Valley Elementary School, Lynne Marie Filippini, was arrested last November on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs in class.

From PE.com:

Filippini was arrested Nov. 8, the day she returned to work after being put on medical leave.

On Oct. 31, a French Valley Elementary official put Filippini on medical leave after she attributed nosebleeds to a staph infection, court records say. On the Temecula woman's first day back, she dropped her children at a day-care center. A worker there contacted officials at Filippini's school to report that the teacher had a bloody nose and was behaving erratically, according to a search warrant that led to her arrest.

Filippini was arrested that day and tested for drugs. The test later showed that she had a potentially lethal amount of cocaine in her system, [prosecuting attorney Brad] Snell said.

A mother of two, Filippini was arrested again Nov. 10 after Temecula police found 13 grams of cocaine in her house, police said.

Yesterday, Filippini pleaded guilty to three counts of misdemeanor child endangerment, driving while under the influence, being under the influence of cocaine and felony cocaine possession. Sentencing is scheduled for June 7. Filippini faces up to five years in jail and three years in state prison.

Filippini's attorney will ask the judge for probation since she pleaded guilty and therefore acknowledged her problem. Prosecutor Snell, however, commented that it is rare for anyone found with a near lethal dose of drugs in their system to be successfully rehabilitated.


[Update 06/08/06]

Judge Harold W. Hopp sentenced Filippini to three years probation and 180 days' weekend lockup in county jail.


[Update 12/23/06]

While on probation, Filippini arrested again.