The New Canaan High School basketball coach arrested March 31 after police found him to be in possession of 20 bags of heroin did not intend to sell the drugs, his lawyer said Monday.
Stamford-based attorney Mark Sherman, representing the coach—Jose Amor—said his initial reaction after reviewing evidence was that “this is not a ‘sale’ case.”
“We hope to clear this up at the appropriate time during the court proceeding,” Sherman told NewCanaanite.com.
Amor is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in state Superior Court in Stamford.
After his arrest, district officials said he no longer was employed by New Canaan Public Schools.
New Canaan High School Athletic Director Jay Egan said at first in an email to the school community that “New Canaan Public Schools has an extensive background check for all employees and will continue to use this system for all future hires.”
Yet in a later email, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Bryan Luizzi called for a “review of every coach in our program” as well as “a comprehensive review of the background checking procedures utilized for all potential employees” of the district.
It isn’t clear where that review stands—district officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Stamford Police charged Amor with possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell a narcotic substance, a felony offense and use of drug paraphernalia.
Following his arrest, one prominent New Canaanite urged the Board of Education to allow unannounced K-9 dog sweeps of NCHS for narcotics.