Ex-Teacher-Of-Year Held In Pot Case

A former teacher of the year was arrested along with her weightlifter husband Thursday after deputies found 10 marijuana plants growing in their home.

Laurie Wilder Maschek, a fifth-grade teacher, and her 34-year-old husband, James Maschek, were charged with marijuana cultivation and other offenses carrying a total of more than 50 years in prison.

Laurie Maschek, 32, was named teacher of the year by her St. Tammany Parish school system in 1992.

The marijuana, worth about $15,000 on the street, was growing in a room with a 1,000-watt light bulb, deputies said. Officers also seized two shotguns and two bottles of bodybuilding steroids.

The couple were jailed on $15,000 bail each.