Hays ? A student teacher at a Catholic high school was charged Thursday with three felony drug counts stemming from the seizure of more than 39 pounds of marijuana from his car and his apartment.

Patrick Saul Chavez, 23, was charged in Ellis County District Court with one count each of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute on school property, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school and one count of felony possession of drug paraphernalia.

Chavez, a student at Fort Hays State University, had been practice teaching biology at Thomas More Prep-Marian High School when he was arrested on Jan. 24. Police, acting on a request from school officials – who themselves were tipped by a student – said they found 36.8 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of Chavez’s car and seized an additional 2.3 pounds from his apartment.

Chavez is free on $30,000 bond.