Sheldon ISD 3rd grade teacher, among 20 federal arrests, accused of drug dealing during class

A third-grade teacher was arrested after federal agents say they caught her on a wiretap dealing drugs while in class.

That's just one of 20 arrests announced Thursday, as law enforcement officers revealed what they call a crackdown on violent gangs that has been two years in the making.

"Cocaine, meth, machine guns, and gangs," U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said to start off the press conference. "It's a recipe whose consequences play out on the streets of Houston every day and every night."

Hamdani, along with other federal, state, and local law enforcement officials, announced they had arrested 17 people on Wednesday. Three others were already in custody.

Sheldon ISD teacher Jessica Ferguson was taken into custody on campus. Federal agents said they had previously caught her dealing drugs.

"She was on a call, taking part in that drug conspiracy while she was at school," Hamdani said. "And you can hear the children in the background."

In a statement, Sheldon ISD officials said there were no children around during her arrest.

Since then, Ferguson has been placed on administrative leave.

She and others were arrested due to an investigation into a well-known local gang.

According to officials, gang leader Alfred Jacoby Green is also under arrest.

"They are a part of the Rich Kingz gang, which has been operating for years out of southwest Houston and is responsible for drug trafficking and violent crimes across our entire city, including several murders," Douglas Williams, FBI special agent in charge, said.

According to law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation, the arrests also included a former corrections officer.

Editor's note: A previous version of this post included that a Memorial Hermann hospital employee was also among the arrests based on information from a law enforcement source close to the investigation, but a hospital spokesperson has denied the allegation..

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