NJ woman planted drugs and ‘spoofed’ phone numbers to set up Sparta teen, police say

SPARTA — When police got a call about a student at the high school with drugs in his possession, it seemed to be a straightforward case. Further investigation, however, suggested that the student may have been set up and the drugs planted on him.

Police were sent to Sparta High School on Jan. 3 when the text message was sent to a teacher informing them about the drugs. A check of the student's bag found 13 white pills, which were determined to be a mixture of oxycodone, hydrochloride, and acetaminophen.

Despite police finding the drugs, the department said the student was "adamant that he did not know how this contraband got into his backpack." He was suspended at the time with charges pending. Police interviewed the student and his father later, where he once again told Det. Brian Hassloch that the drugs had been planted on him.

Hassloch then obtained the phone number which had sent the initial text message to the teacher and traced it back to 46-year-old Succasunna resident Beth E. Weickert. Working in conjunction with the Sussex County Prosecutor's Office, Hassloch then applied for grand jury subpoenas to find the origin of what were described as "spoofed" phone numbers. Spoofing is where phone networks show a different point of origin of the call.

During an interview with Weickert on Jan. 24, Hassloch said she did not provide any additional information about her involvement in the incident. The following day Hassloch was informed by a detective in the Prosecutor's Office that the numbers had been traced back to Weickert's phone and IP address from her Succasunna residence.

Weickert was interviewed a second time on Feb. 1 and again denied knowing anything about the case. At that time, she also requested a lawyer and stopped answering any questions. The Sparta police did not reveal what, if any relationship Weickert had to the student.

Weickert was charged with third-degree cyber harassment, third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, fourth-degree false reports to law enforcement authorities, and fourth-degree fabricating evidence. She was also charged with third-degree obscene material for a person under 18 after further investigation showed she had sent explicit material to a 15-year-old boy.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com