Former teacher gets prison for dealing heroin

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*Two of the girls have contracted hepatitis C, according to court documents. *

December 3, 2004

Former teacher gets prison for dealing heroin

Lowell woman admits giving drug to her Westford Academy students

By LISA REDMOND, Sun Staff

LOWELL A former Westford Academy math teacher admitted yesterday that she introduced four of her teenage students to heroin, even teaching some of the girls to inject the powerful and highly addictive drug into their veins as they partied in her Lowell home.

Dressed in a blue sweatshirt and matching sweatpants in court yesterday, Rosemarie Pumo showed no emotion as she was sentenced to four to five years in state prison, followed by three years probation, after pleading guilty to 10 counts of distribution of heroin. "It is a tremendous abuse of trust for a teacher,'' Lowell Superior Court Judge Ralph Gants told the 35-year-old former teacher. "It's a very sad example of what heroin can do to those who touch it.'' None of the girls nor their families were in court yesterday.

And while Pumo's case has ended, it continues to cause shock waves throughout the Westford Academy community. Superintendent did not return repeated calls for comment, but School Committee Chairwoman Margaret Murray called the crime "the thing you would least expect in any school system. "It's tragic for the families involved and all the way around. It's a loss of faith and trust and a loss of faith in our security and environment," Murray said. "It fractures everything you think about when you think about schools and the community." Defense attorney Randall K. Power said that Pumo had been a successful teacher for eight years at the high school, serving on the Westford Academy Advisory Council and as a class adviser, until she became addicted to heroin last year. While it is unclear how Pumo got hooked on heroin, Power said, "Once she was introduced to it, it overtook her life." Pumo was initially arrested in February 2003 and charged with possession of heroin and conspiracy after she was arrested along with expelled Westford Academy student Duggan, 18, for buying 10 bags of heroin in the parking lot of a Cumberland Farms store on Westford Street in Lowell. She resigned her job after her arrest, but her contact with her former students continued. At first it was just Pumo and Duggan allegedly shooting heroin at the math teacher's apartment at 616 Princeton Blvd., prosecutor Suzanne Kontz said. But by April of 2003, Pumo and Duggan had invited four other Westford Academy students three 16-year-olds and a 17-year-old girl to the Lowell home the two women shared, selling them heroin for $10 a bag, Kontz alleges. Initially the students were snorting the heroin, but beginning around the final exam period in mid-June 2003, two of the minors began injecting the heroin on a daily basis. "Duggan would prepare the needle while Pumo would find a ripe vein (in one of the girls) and Duggan would inject it. Then they (Pumo and Duggan) would inject each other," Kontz alleges. What began as a twice a week party in April, turned into a six-day-a-week drug den by June. But by July, the party was over. The parents of three of the four girls went to police. Two of the girls have contracted hepatitis C, according to court documents. As police investigated, Pumo was arrested again in August 2003 when Lowell police watched her enter a drug house and walk out with 10 bags of heroin. After being jailed for more than year awaiting resolution of her case, Pumo is now clean of her heroin addiction and remorseful about what has happened, her attorney said. "Due to her addiction her judgment was so poor," he said. After she is released from prison, Pumo will be on probation for three years. During that time she can have no contact with anyone 17 or younger, except immediate family members. Power said she cannot return to teaching. Pumo is also prohibited from having contact with the victims or her two co-defendants. Duggan, of Tadmuck Road, Westord, and Pumo's alleged drug supplier, Fernandez, 33, of Lowell, still have cases pending. Duggan is scheduled for a change of plea on Dec. 14, while Fernandez is expected to plead guilty to charges on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Westford, School Committee members will pay extra attention to students' attitudes about drugs, Murray said. For example, due out soon is a survey of so-called risky behavior in which students describe activity related to sexual matters, bullying, drugs, violence and alcohol. Committee members will scour survey results for information. The Westford school board will also consider tightening its procedure for reviewing teacher applicants' backgrounds for criminal behavior. Staff writer Ward contributed to this report. Redmond's e-mail address is lredmond@... .

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