2 charged with selling drugs at Shadow Hills High School

One of two 18-year-old men charged with dealing drugs to students at Shadow Hills High School in Indio pleaded guilty Thursday to possession of cocaine and was sentenced to three years probation.

Kennedy Joseph Strong of La Quinta and Donald John Tyler Moore of Indio were each charged Wednesday with one felony count of selling cocaine and one misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine.

During an arraignment hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Thursday morning, prosecutors dropped the drug dealing charge against Moore in exchange for his guilty plea on the possession count.

Strong pleaded not guilty to both charges and is due back in court on June 26 for a felony settlement conference. He’s free on $60,000 bail.

The defendants were arrested April 23, after investigators from the Coachella Valley Narcotics Task Force served three drug-related search warrants stemming from an investigation into a drug dealing operation affecting the Jefferson Street campus, sheriff’s Deputy Armando Munoz said.

Searches of their homes in the 43200 block of Liberty Street in Indio and the 79100 block of Diane Drive in La Quinta yielded more than 16 grams of cocaine, over six grams of MDMA powder known as Molly and 24 capsules of the drug, along with packaging, scales and other evidence of drug sales, Munoz alleged.

A student, whose name was withheld because he’s underage, was arrested at the school on suspicion of possessing drugs for sale. During a search of his home in the 82300 block of Avenida Gonzalez, more than 25 grams of cocaine and other items related to drug sales were seized, Munoz said.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 will keep you updated as their cases move forward in court.