Carlsbad

A former junior ROTC adviser was ordered to stand trial in Superior Court on charges he provided drugs to students at the Army-Navy Academy in Carlsbad.

Robert Deering, 27, of Oceanside, will be arraigned April 20 on six felony charges relating to providing marijuana and methamphetamines to several boys under 18 after school hours in his apartment.

Deputy Dist. Atty. George McFetridge said the incidents occurred between Thanksgiving and Christmas. He said there were no allegations that Deering sold the drugs, but rather provided them free because some of the students were curious about their effects. Vista Municipal Judge Michael Burley presided at the preliminary hearing.

At the time, Deering was an Army sergeant on loan from the Department of Defense to the academy as a Junior ROTC adviser. He has since been dismissed from the service.