A top administrator for the Prince George’s County, Md., public schools was arrested last week in connection with a federal investigation into an alleged Virginia-based drug ring.
Pamela Y. Hoffler-Riddick, a regional assistant superintendent for the 140,000-student district, was charged with five counts of money laundering as part of a 267-page indictment by the U.S. attorney’s office in Norfolk, Va., that named more than 30 people. Members of the alleged drug ring are accused of distributing more than $20 million worth of cocaine and marijuana since 1996.
Ms. Hoffler-Riddick, who also worked in the Baltimore and Montgomery County, Md., school districts and as an educator in Virginia, was placed on administrative leave.
Andre J. Hornsby, the chief executive officer of the Prince George’s County schools, said in a statement that Ms. Hoffler-Riddick’s background check was “clean” when she was hired in the fall of 2003.
Her lawyer, David Bouchard, said that Ms. Hoffler-Riddick would plead not guilty and that she was “totally innocent” of the charges.
