The former Derby Middle School dean of students will apply for a special form of probation that could see his record wiped clean as long as he stays out of trouble for an unspecified period of time, following a hearing at Superior Court in Derby on Tuesday.
William LaRovera, 35, of Naugatuck was arrested in September after principal Sally Bonina accused him of bringing narcotics to school. Police said they found 66 Roxicodone pills, a generic oxycodone, in two plastic bags along with a clear plastic tube that had powdery residue in it. LaRovera resigned on Nov. 3 after he reached an agreement with the Derby Board of Education.
LaRovera will apply for the accelerated rehabilitation program and a community service labor program, said Rob Serafinowicz, LaRovera’s lawyer.
Judge Burton Kaplan will hear the case again on Feb. 3 and decide whether or not to grant LaRovera entry into the programs.
“It’s all straightforward,” Serafinowicz said. “Everyone knows what happened and everyone regrets what happened.”
LaRovera faces four felony charges of possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of drug paraphernalia within 1,500 feet of a school and failure to keep narcotics in the original container.
LaRovera recently spent a few days at an in-patient detox program in Danbury and he continues outpatient treatment, Serafinowicz said. He said LaRovera originally needed the medication for baseball injuries during college and later when he was the victim of the crime.
Addiction can happen to anyone, Serafinowicz said.
“People take these things for legitimate injuries and they get out of control,” Serafinowicz said.
Bonina said she felt suspicious of LaRovera’s behavior for the last year, according to the arrest warrant released in September. After she saw LaRovera enter a locker room with a computer bag that she later found contained the pills, she called school Superintendent Stephen Tracy, who called Derby police.