Police arrest teacher over guns
Oklahoma City police have arrested a schoolteacher who is connected to a notorious gang and in 2016 pleaded guilty to a felony.
Leva Caroline Drummond, 45, was arrested without incident Thursday morning during her planning period at Northeast Academy, 3100 N Kelley. She teaches English to students in grades 8-10.
Drummond, a disbarred attorney, is accused in an arrest warrant of possessing guns illegally because of a felony conviction in her past.
A judge ordered her arrest after agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched her Oklahoma City home on Wednesday.
“Due to Drummond’s involvement with the Irish Mob Gang, officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office were also on scene to assist ATF,” an investigator reported in a probable cause affidavit.
During the search, officers found an unloaded revolver, a loaded revolver and a loaded semi-automatic pistol, the investigator reported. The serial number on the pistol had been defaced.
In February 2016, Drummond pleaded guilty in Tulsa to one felony count of bringing contraband into the county jail.
Despite the accusation in the arrest warrant, she actually received a deferred sentence, which is not considered a conviction. Prosecutors are seeking to revoke her deferred sentence, in part, because she tested positive in October for methamphetamine, court records show.
At the time, Drummond was an attorney and provided a cellphone to an inmate she was representing, according to the affidavit.
Drummond taught English to the inmate and the two reconnected on social media, records show.
A news release said the school district is “fully cooperating with authorities.”
“OKCPS will take action as needed once internal and external investigations are complete,” the release stated. “As always, the safety and security of students and staff is our No. 1 priority.”
In an emailed statement to The Oklahoman, district spokeswoman Beth Harrison said the district conducts a background check through the state Education Department and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
Because of her deferred sentence, Drummond is not a convicted felon, according to state law, the statement said. “Additionally, Oklahoma law does not prevent a convicted felon from being employed by a school district as a teacher as long as the teacher may obtain certification by the State Department of Education.”