FERNLEY (AP) – A judge has ordered a sixth-grade Fernley teacher to stand trial on charges of selling and using drugs.

Kymberly Tamburello, 43, a former special education teacher at Fernley Intermediate School, was ordered on Tuesday bound over for trial in Lyon County District Court in Yerington.

She is charged with felony possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful use of both marijuana and methamphetamine. A trial date has not been set.

Sgt. Shawn Clanton of the Lyon County Sheriff’s Department said during the preliminary hearing on Tuesday that Tamburello and her husband, Charles, first came to the attention of authorities after Kymberly Tamburello’s friend told police she saw the teacher with methamphetamine while she was being treated at a Reno hospital for an asthma-related condition.

Clanton said after about five hours of interviews with an informant, officers served a search warrant on the couple’s home in Fernley on Oct. 13.

Charles Tamburello pleaded guilty in November to a charge of trafficking methamphetamine, which carries a mandatory prison term of one to six years.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dismissed charges of maintaining a residence for the purpose of sales, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of marijuana and unlawful use of both marijuana and methamphetamine.

Clanton said four minutes after police arrived at the home in October, Charles Tamburello asked to speak to Clanton in the garage. He told the officer that the methamphetamine was not his, but that it was given to him by a co-worker. Clanton said Mr. Tamburello then told him to look in a cabinet by the microwave in the kitchen.

Clanton said he opened the garage door and told another officer, “The stuff’s in the cabinet by the microwave.”

Clanton said Charles Tamburello then allegedly said, “Honey, show them where it is,” and Kymberly got up from the kitchen table and opened the cabinet.

Clanton said several packets containing methamphetamine and a “shard” of meth were found in the cabinet, along with a loaded methamphetamine pipe and several bags of marijuana.

He said marijuana and a pipe were also recovered from Kymberly Tamburello’s purse and marijuana, and paraphernalia were found throughout the home.

“It is common for drug dealers to pack and weigh out several little baggies for sale. There is no use in putting several little baggies of methamphetamine together unless you’re selling it,” Clanton said.

Defense Attorney David Houston argued that the drugs were weighed in the packages, and the actual weights were not yet known. Under Nevada law, 14 grams of methamphetamine is needed for a felony sales charge.

He also said the fact that Charles Tamburello was arrested following the search, but that his wife was not, would indicate police didn’t think she was involved.

“Mrs. Tamburello was merely present in a location where drugs were recovered,” Houston said.