JP Charter School Tutor Arraigned on Meth Charges

A tutor who was arrested Tuesday at Jamaica Plain's Match Charter Middle School for receiving a package containing more than 400 grams of methamphetamine pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning in West Roxbury Court.

Stephen Doran, 57, of Dorchester was arraigned on charges of drug trafficking and was being held Wednesday morning on $10,000 cash bail, according to Suffolk County District Attorney spokesman Jake Wark.

Massachusetts State Police stopped Doran on Tuesday, just after 12:30 p.m., as he was leaving the school, where he tutors students. Police reportedly found a U.S. Postal Service Express Mail package inside Doran's vehicle which was addressed to him via the middle school. Inside the package, authorities found "two heat-sealed baggies containing 480 grams of a  crystalline substance believed to be methamphetamine," Wark said.

Doran was arrested and charged with drug trafficking as well as violating the state's drug laws in a school zone.

Following his arrest, police searched Doran’s home on Dix Street in Dorchester where they reportedly found an additional 38 grams of methamphetamine and about $10,000 in cash, a digital scale and "other items consistent with drug distribution," Wark said.

Doran will face a second count of drug trafficking in Dorchester Municipal Court. An arraignment date on those charges has not been set.

"Prosecutors estimate the total street value of the seized drugs at about $50,000," Wark said.

While Assistant District Attorney Rakhi Lahiri recommended that Doran be held on $50,000 cash bail, Judge Michael Coyne imposed a $10,000 bail, with a stipulation that, if bail is posted, Doran must wear a GPS device and remain on home confinement except for medical appointments.

He is due back in West Roxbury Court on June 24.