POLICE: TEACHER ARRESTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING IN MIAMI

MIAMI- A teacher of homebound students has been charged with drug
trafficking after investigators searching his home found more than
two pounds of cocaine and 747 tablets of the anxiety drug Xanax.

Robert Anthony Menendez has been charged with trafficking cocaine, a
first-degree felony, and three counts of possession, Miami-Dade
police said.

According to police, Menendez gave narcotics investigators written
permission to search his home Friday. They found more than two pounds
of cocaine, a gram of marijuana and unprescribed narcotics: 12 Viagra
pills and 747 tablets of Xanax.

Menendez, who turns 34 Saturday, has been a middle school social
studies teacher at Merrick Educational Center in Coral Gables since
1994, according to district records.

Menendez teaches students medically unable to attend school through
conference telephone calls, Principal Judith Slovin said Monday.

If convicted on the trafficking charge, he faces a mandatory minimum
sentence of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Menendez was being held at a pretrial detention center on $261,000
bail late Monday. He is scheduled for arraignment before Miami-Dade
Circuit Judge David Young on May 24.

Menendez has no prior criminal history, according to law enforcement records.

It could not immediately be determined early Tuesday if Menendez had
an attorney.

"He was responsible, as far as I knew," Slovin said. "I didn't have
any problems with his performance."

Information from: The Miami Herald