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Foothill teacher arrested on drug charge avoids jail time
Ordered to drug treatment, which could expunge her record

by Glenn Wohltman

A Foothill High School teacher arrested for smoking oxymorphone in Livermore will get drug treatment -- not jail time.

Stephanie Deffner was 32 when she was arrested at about 3:40 p.m. on Oct. 26, not long after school let out, during a police stakeout of the Springtown Motel. The stakeout was for another woman selling drugs out of a motel room.

That woman joined Deffner in Deffner's car where the two were observed heating aluminum foil to smoke the drug, according to court records. She was charged with two felonies, possession of oxymorphone and possession of a single methadone pill.

In court Tuesday, Deffner pleaded guilty to one count, possession of methadone. She was ordered to undergo drug treatment.

"I'm not going to find you guilty -- yet," said Pleasanton Superior Court Judge Hugh Walker, who ordered her to complete a drug diversionary program.

The oxymorphone possession charge was dismissed pending Deffner's completion of the program.

She was ordered to return in six weeks, on Feb. 28, to show her progress, although her attorney pointed out that Deffner is already involved in a program.

The prosecutor in the case previously noted that the drug diversion sentence could expunge her record.

The Pleasanton school board placed an unnamed teacher on an extended leave of absence in December, according to Bill Faraghan, the school district's Human Resources Director. That action, taken in a closed session of the board meeting, was believed to involve Deffner although Faraghan and board members were not allowed to discuss a personnel matter nor could they identify the individual.