A Leilehua High teacher accused of distributing methamphetamine was the person designated by her school to turn in confiscated drugs to police, a federal prosecutor said in court Monday.
Janice Pualani Fontes, a special-education teacher, was arrested May 7 during school hours.
At a bond hearing Monday, a federal judge ruled Fontes may be released once electronic monitoring is set up in her sponsor’s home.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren ordered Fontes released on $50,000 signature bond co-signed by her sponsor, the Rev. Lisa Peterson.
Fontes will be on home detention under Peterson’s supervision.
A separate telephone line will have to be installed at the home as part of the court’s system for electronic monitoring.
The drug Enforcement Administration says in court records that Fontes, 51, accepted drug shipments from the mainland and sent the proceeds back to California.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Inciong opposed Fontes’ release. He told Kurren that Fontes poses a danger to the community because she was involved last year in an ex-boyfriend’s drug dealing.
Fontes was the person at Leilehua designated to turn in confiscated drugs to police, Inciong added.
Fontes’ lawyer, Myles Breiner, said Fontes was not charged in the ex-boyfriend’s case and that she has not been in trouble with the law in 26 years.
Peterson, pastor of The Lord’s House Ministries in Wahiawa, says Fontes volunteers her time and money to feed homeless people through the church’s Feed and Seed program.
