QuickTake:

Federal prosecutors presented more details about their case against two school psychologists and a third woman accused of running an online site selling methamphetamine pills and cocaine, among other drugs. All three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A federal judge in Ohio on Monday, Dec. 1, ordered that a psychologist with Eugene School District 4J be kept in custody after prosecutors presented evidence about an online site selling illicit drugs that she’s alleged to have helped run with her wife, out of their home in Lebanon.

Authorities have seized about $320,000 in “drug-money cryptocurrency” from Jennifer Blake, according to court documents filed by prosecutors ahead of the hearing.

Blake worked at Chávez Elementary School and Twin Oaks Elementary School before the drug charges, a district spokesperson said previously.

Blake remains employed at 4J but has been on unpaid leave, district spokesperson Kelly McIver said Monday.

“She has received pay since the date of the arrest, via use of six days of previously earned contractual leave. It is standard practice that an employee may use earned leave when the person is unable to report to work,” McIver said in an email.

Court documents citing a loan application stated that Blake earned $55,992 per year from her district employment.

Blake and co-defendant Amandra Heffelfinger pleaded not guilty at a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

Heffelfinger worked as a school psychologist within the Linn Benton Lincoln Education Service District, according to court documents listing her annual salary as $69,996 based on loan application information.

As of Nov. 13, Heffelfinger is no longer a district employee, Linn Benton Lincoln Superintendent Jason Hay said in an email Monday. Hay stated he would have no further comment on “confidential personnel matters.”

U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. on Monday ordered the detention of both Blake and Heffelfinger.

On Oct. 2, a grand jury indicted Blake, Heffelfinger and Jesse Wasson on drug trafficking charges in connection with a website known as Rocky Mountain Connections, which allegedly offered for sale methamphetamine, cocaine and LSD, among other drugs, according to court documents.

Wasson also pleaded not guilty on Monday.

Investigators in March first found a reference to the online site in the profile of a “known” drug trafficker, according to an affidavit filed in the case from William Jake VonEssen, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent. The affidavit did not name the drug trafficker.

After navigating online to the web address, investigators “were automatically directed to a new domain,” which showcased “a drug marketplace called Rocky Mountain Connections” where methamphetamine, cocaine, LSD and other illicit drugs could be purchased using cryptocurrency, according to the affidavit. 

Investigators made online purchases of cocaine, LSD, alprazolam and “counterfeit methamphetamine pills,” according to the affidavit.

Authorities traced a contact email listed on the site to an online account, “Rockychoc,” used on a website known as the Drug Buyer’s Guide, as well as a U.S. Postal Service online account linked to an address in Lebanon, Oregon. Investigators found the address to be the home of Heffelfinger and Blake before the couple moved to a different address, also in Lebanon.

A search warrant for an online account of Wasson’s allegedly found “pictures of books and pdfs about how to be a drug trafficker,” a message inquiring about placing drug orders, and “artwork for ‘Rocky Mountain Psychedelics’ that matches ‘Rocky Mountain Connections’ branding (a bear alongside mountains),” according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also describes August surveillance of Blake by the DEA and U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigators, as well as search warrants obtained for two packages allegedly dropped off by Blake at post offices in Lebanon and Sweet Home.

Cocaine, counterfeit methamphetamine pills and other drugs were allegedly found in the packages.

The affidavit states that “it appears that Blake and Heffelfinger handle a majority of the drug order ‘processing’ from their residence” on Grove Street in Lebanon, where a search warrant was executed. Methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA — often referred to as “ecstasy” — and several other drugs were allegedly found at the home.