QuickTake:

A federal grand jury in Ohio charged Jennifer Blake with five felony counts related to drug trafficking early in October. Blake worked at Chávez Elementary School and Twin Oaks Elementary School in Eugene School District 4J.

Police arrested Jennifer Blake, a Eugene School District 4J school psychologist, on Oct. 6 in Lebanon, Oregon, on federal drug trafficking charges.

A grand jury in Columbus, Ohio, charged Blake with five felony counts related to selling drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, LSD, DMT, MDMA and ketamine, among others.

According to an affidavit filed by a special agent at the Columbus Cyber Narcotics Joint Task Force, Blake was one of three people who operated an online marketplace for drugs called Rocky Mountain Connections. The narcotics task force bought multiple drugs from the website and tracked them from western Oregon to Columbus through the United States Postal Service to locate the source.

A federal judge in Oregon ordered Blake to appear in a Columbus court on Thursday, but the hearing was not on the Thursday court schedule, and no documents were filed electronically on Thursday, indicating the hearing was postponed.

A judge in southern Ohio ordered that Blake and another woman, Amandra Heffelfinger, be kept in custody until their trial. One reason a U.S. government attorney listed in his motion to keep Blake and Heffelfinger in custody was that both women are school psychologists employed in Oregon school districts.

“In other words, they are serious drug dealers who interact with children,” Dominic Gerace wrote.

Blake was a school psychologist at Chávez Elementary School and Twin Oaks Elementary School, Kelly McIver, 4J director of communications and intergovernmental relations, told Lookout.

McIver said Blake is a 4J employee and started the school year at her two assigned schools, but is not currently in the buildings. Principals have not sent school-wide messages about Blake’s arrest. They have answered questions as they’ve receive them.

McIver said to the district’s knowledge, there are no other 4J employees or community members involved in the case.

This story has been edited to remove a quote from a school official that contained a mischaracterization of school psychologists.

Lilly is a graduate of Indiana University and has worked at the Indianapolis Star and in Burlington, Vermont, as well as working as a foreign language teacher in France. She covers education and children's issues for Lookout Eugene-Springfield.