Former school official pleads guilty

Wednesday, August 2nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A former Claremore school official has pleaded guilty to distributing a pain killer to two undercover agents. Margaret Susan Ledbetter, former director of special services for Claremore Public Schools, admitted Tuesday that on Jan. 24, she sold 20 Lortab tablets to two undercover Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics agents at her Claremore home. She reportedly received $100 in marked bills for the pills. She also said in her plea that she abused her position by influencing a Claremore student to help her in the distribution of illegal drugs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Horn said Ledbetter had a student sell Xanax -- a tranquilizer -- for her in exchange for $200. Horn said her use of the student was a one-time event, and defense attorney Jack E. Gordon Jr. stressed that Ledbetter never sold drugs to Claremore students. Gordon said his client is "a nice woman who has done a lot of good for a whole lot of people in Claremore." He said Ledbetter got "screwed up on Lortab and lost her judgment." Sentencing is scheduled Nov. 13 by U.S. Senior District Judge H. Dale Cook. Ledbetter is free on bond.