Accused teacher to enter rehab

A former science teacher charged with a string of drug-fueled crimes will be allowed to leave the Allegheny County Jail to seek inpatient treatment for her heroin addiction, her attorney said Monday.

Philicia Barbieri, 25, charged with robbing a bank, stealing school computers and burglarizing a Shadyside neighbor, will head to the Ellen O'Brien Gaiser Addiction Center in Butler County, where she will likely spend several months, said her attorney, Patrick Thomassey.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning on Monday granted Mr. Thomassey's request that Ms. Barbieri's bail be lowered so that she can enter the facility, which he called "one of the best."

Ms. Barbieri, formerly a full-time substitute teacher at Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts high school, told police her expensive heroin habit drove her to the crimes. Police said she helped her live-in boyfriend, Alvin Carter III, 28, rob the Fifth Third Bank in East Liberty on April 15 in desperate pursuit of rent money. Since then, she has been charged with stealing more than $22,500 in laptop computers from CAPA and with twice breaking into an apartment directly below hers on Marchand Street. Police said she and Mr. Carter, who is charged only with the bank heist, stole a flat-screen TV and a Nintendo Wii, electronics they promptly sold to buy heroin.

"It's all a result of trying to get money to feed her habit," Mr. Thomassey said. "Addiction is a horrible thing. A person who would never think about violating the law, it just grabs hold of them."

He said narcotic painkillers prescribed to Ms. Barbieri by a Florida physician were her gateway to heroin, a drug she told police she and Mr. Carter had been using heavily for about six months.

Mr. Carter is being represented by a public defender, court records show. He and Ms. Barbieri told police they had developed a "bundle-a-day" heroin habit; a bundle consists of 10 "stamp bags" of heroin and is worth about $100 each on the street.

Preliminary hearings for both are scheduled for today.

Stays at Gaiser last up to 90 days and generally involve treatment from both counselors and doctors, who craft an individualized plan for each patient. Mr. Thomassey said he did not know when Ms. Barbieri would begin treatment, but he hoped it would set her on the right track. Her bail will be readdressed after treatment.

First published on April 26, 2011 at 12:00 am