School health worker arrested on drug charges

TAMPA -- A health aide at a Tampa elementary school was arrested on felony drug charges Monday night after police responding to a reported burglary at her home found a stash of drugs, cash and drug-dealing paraphernalia, authorities said.

Keila Benitez Casellas, 40, is charged with felony possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. She has been suspended from her job at Crestwood Elementary School, which is about a mile north of Tampa International Airport.

In the home that Casellas shares with her husband, police reported finding 5.5 grams of cocaine, 3.8 grams of marijuana and nearly $4,800 in cash, along with baggies and scales. Her husband, Steven, 41, was arrested on the same charges.

About 10:15 p.m. Monday, police arrived to investigate a report of a burglary in progress at the home at 3023 River Grove Drive, near Robles Cemetery. No one was home, but police found that someone had broken in through a rear window. Inside the home, officers spotted the evidence "in plain view," said Tampa police Officer Jim Contento.

The couple was arrested later. The couple's interior video security system wasn't operating at the time of the break-in, Contento said.

The Hillsborough County School District suspended Casellas with pay pending further action from the School Board, spokesman Stephen Hegarty said. Casellas has worked for the district since 1999 and has worked at Crestwood since July, he said.

Steven Casellas was convicted of felony cocaine trafficking in 2000 and served about 3-1/2 years in a Tarpon Springs work-release facility, according to state corrections records.

- Mike Brassfield, Times staff writer

Comments

[Bill Wishmeir]

When are the districts gonna start holding teachers and staff more accountable.The districts need to institute Trained Observiors and a reporting system of checks and balances between themselves,Team Concept and Team Function help to Prevent and deal with such problems and will catch the behavior way sooner than the police checking out on something that is not even related and stumbling on a crime that has been taking place for awhile.