District Tutor in Carlsbad Accused of Selling Drugs

A 37-year-old La Costa woman who has worked as a home tutor for the Carlsbad Unified School District for the past 12 years will be arraigned today on felony charges of conspiring to sell marijuana to an undercover police officer posing as a pupil.

Carlsbad police allege that Jan Dunning agreed to sell marijuana to the officer, who posed as a youth who wanted to pass a high school equivalency test.

Sgt. Matt Matnay said Dunning is also suspected of supplying teen-agers with drugs and allowing them to use drugs at her La Costa home.

Dunning operates the North County Tutoring Agency out of her home. The agency supplies tutors for homebound students throughout San Diego County.

According to police, the undercover agent told Dunning that he was a drug dealer and needed to buy some marijuana.

An investigation into Dunning’s alleged drug activities began about two months ago after an outraged parent called Carlsbad police and reported anonymously that Dunning was allowing youths to use drugs in her home. Two students also reported similar activity to police, and the mother of a student being tutored by a youth living with Dunning told police that her son had been offered drugs by the 18-year-old.

Tom Manning, the county deputy district attorney prosecuting Dunning, said the investigation is continuing. Four arrests have been made, and more are expected, he said.

Dunning is charged in connection with the sale of 2 pounds of marijuana to the undercover officer. According to police:

In an initial attempt to make the buy Feb. 8, the officer arranged to meet Dunning in a supermarket parking lot, but she told the officer that she could not come because she could not get a baby-sitter for her children, ages 10 and 13.

A week later, another meeting was set up in which two men attempted to sell the marijuana to the undercover officer. Both men, Roger Ratja, 23, and Wilbert Martinez, 24, were arrested and are awaiting arraignment on drug trafficking charges, Manning said. A third man, Lawrence Goddard, 38, was arrested after the pair identified him as the supplier of the drug.

Manning said Dunning and her house guest, 18-year-old Mike Spaulding, were identified by Ratja and Martinez as the people who set up the drug deal.

Dunning was arrested Feb. 17 after a search of her house uncovered a scale with traces of marijuana on it and a plastic bag with marijuana residue, hidden in a sewing basket in a closet, Manning said. Mike Spaulding is sought on a $100,000 arrest warrant, he said.