A homeless single mother accused of illegally enrolling her son in the wrong school district was behind bars Monday, charged with selling crack cocaine and marijuana to undercover officers near another school in that city.Tanya McDowell, 33, also faces pending drug sale charges from an arrest last fall, months before she made national headlines when she was charged in April with larceny and stealing education services for her young son.
McDowell was arraigned Monday on the drug sale charges in Superior Court in Norwalk, the same city where she is accused of illegally enrolling her son, now 6, in kindergarten last fall under her baby sitter's address.
She has pleaded not guilty to a first-degree larceny charge in that case, which is pending. McDowell, who is black, has received national attention and support from civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, who headlined a rally last week outside the school McDowell's son had attended.
In the new case, police arrested McDowell on Friday on an affidavit charging her with selling crack and marijuana to undercover officers.
She was held over the weekend before Monday's court appearance, where a judge set her bond at $200,000.
She remained in jail later Monday over the objections of her attorney, Darnell Crosland, who criticized the bond amount as excessive and said he believes police targeted McDowell because of publicity over the school enrollment arrest.