Teacher’s Aide Seized in Probe of Steroid Sales

A Carlsbad High School teacher’s aide accused of selling steroids to students appeared in court Thursday and his arraignment on the charges was continued until June 14.

Gregory Thomas Tirona, 31, was taken into custody Wednesday after police secured a warrant for his arrest on suspicion of selling the drug to three 16-year-old students.

Carlsbad police on a stakeout of the home of the suspect’s family arrested Tirona about 6:20 p.m. as he was leaving the residence in the 3400 block of Valley Street, Lt. Don Lewis said.

Tirona was arrested without incident and taken to County Jail, where he was being held on suspicion of three counts of selling a controlled substance to minors and three counts of selling a controlled substance, Lewis said.

Police began an investigation May 3 into allegations that Tirona sold steroids to as many as six students, according to court affidavits.

The documents say that three students bought vials of a substance from Tirona at the school from October to December. One of them also purchased six hypodermic syringes, the documents say.

The probe began when school officials contacted authorities after a mother of one of the students told them she had found three vials in her son’s bedroom, Lewis said.

The vials were turned over to authorities and their contents found to contain testosterone cypionate, according to Lewis. Testosterone cypionate is a known muscle-enhancing and strength-building drug.

Police searched offices at the high school and district headquarters last month after learning that Tirona had met with Carlsbad High Principal Bill Dunmeyer on Feb. 17. The meeting apparently was a reprimand stemming from the aide telling students about the benefits of steroids, which some athletes take to build muscles and strength despite the hazard to health.

Tirona was a star athlete at Carlsbad High during the 1970s and has been a teacher’s aide for four years. A search of the Tirona family home yielded no steroids.

Despite the gap from the February meeting until May 3, when the allegations surfaced, school officials will not be charged for failing to report suspicions to authorities earlier.

“I don’t have any information that indicates that they violated the law,” Lewis said. “As far as I know . . . there certainly was not enough information available for them to know what was going on.”

Tirona appeared in felony arraignment court Thursday, but the hearing was continued until June 14 so he can name his own attorney, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Holman. Tirona was represented by an attorney from the public defender’s office Thursday, Holman said.

Attorney Craig Griswold, who had advised Tirona during the investigation but did not appear for him Thursday, said Tirona was released from jail Thursday night on his own recognizance.

Richard Hamilton, an attorney for the school district, said he will recommend that Tirona, also a volunteer girls’ basketball coach at the school, be put on administrative leave without pay until the case is resolved. Tirona has been on paid leave for almost a month.

Hamilton said he will make the recommendation to the school board, which will convene in a closed special meeting within the next few days.

“It’s appropriate that the matter be taken care of soon because of the attention it has generated,” Hamilton said.