Teacher Caught with Heroin Gets Probation

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Yesterday, Mary Steck was sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski to six months probation, without a verdict.

If Steck stays clean, the charges against her may be dropped.

"I thank the cops for helping me get my life back," the North Side woman said yesterday as she waited for a hearing to begin in City Court. "I have a disease."

After five years of using drugs, Ms. Steck, 51, said she is now clean. She finished a rehab program and plans to continue attending counseling sessions.

Nevertheless, Steck is expected to lose her job with Pittsburgh Public Schools along with her teaching license.


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Teacher Caught with Heroin
[Previous 5/30/08 post]
(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) A 51-year-old physics teacher at Perry Traditional Academy, Mary C. Steck, was arrested this week after being caught in a police drug sting.

Steck has been charged with possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.

According to the police reports, city detectives were conducting an investigation along Atwood Street on the North Side watching for drug sales in response to complaints from neighbors.

Police say they identified a black Honda CRV, which was parked in Steck's driveway as a vehicle that pulled onto the street on Wednesday.

Investigators report that Steck was driving and a male passenger got out, handed money to another man, who then gave him several small white packets.

Detectives say they later stopped the vehicle on Marshall Avenue and found the bags of suspected heroin and a syringe in Steck's purse. She later admitted she was a teacher at Perry High School, police say.

Steck was arraigned yesterday morning and released on bond. She has been suspended from her $72,000 per year teaching position pending completion of an investigation.