Texas Teacher Gets Prison on Drug Charges - Updated

(Lubbock, Texas) Former Midland High School teacher Deborah Suzanne Morton was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Rob Junnell to 37 months in prison. She was also ordered to undergo 500 hours of drug counseling and pay a $7,000 fine.

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Texas Teacher Guilty of Federal Drug Charges - Updated
[Previous 1/22/11 post]
(Lubbock, Texas) Former Midland High School teacher Deborah Morton pleaded guilty this week to federal charges of providing narcotics to her students.

Deborah Suzanne Morton, 56, could face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a minimum three-year sentence of mandatory supervised release.

She also is subject to a fine not to exceed $1 million.

No sentencing date reported thus far.

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Texas Teacher Arrested on Federal Drug Charges
[Previous 10/30/10 post]
(Lubbock, Texas) A 56-year-old speech teacher at Midland High School, Deborah Suzanne Morton, was arrested this week on federal drug possession and distribution charges.

Three associates, David J. Bonilla, age 21; Erik Barboza Rodriguez, 22; and Christian Porter, 20, were arrested with her on drug charges.

The indictment was filed Wednesday and unsealed Friday in federal court. It stated that Morton allegedly possessed and distributed methadone, hydrocodone pills, marijuana and oxycodone.

She also is alleged to have received oxycodone from an individual under the age of 18 who is not a family member and distributed the drugs from her home in the 4300 block of West Storey Avenue, which is within 1,000 feet of Alamo Junior High School.

Morton is believed to have maintained that residence to distribute and use the drugs methadone, hydrocodone and marijuana, court documents showed.

The incidents listed in the indictment are alleged to have taken place between September 1, 2007, and Oct. 13, 2010.

Morton was booked into federal custody in Lubbock.