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Leaf apprehended at U.S.-Canada border
Brent Schrotenboer
Originally published 02:03 p.m., June 17, 2009, updated 05:41 p.m., June 17, 2009
The image below won't post. It's Leaf in a prison scrub suit.
Ryan Leaf appears in Whatcom County Superior Court in Bellingham, Wash., after being arrested by U.S. custom agents Wednesday while trying to enter the United States from Canada. Leaf is wanted in Texas on drug and burglary charges. (Philip A. Dwyer/Bellingham Herald) -
Former Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf was trying to enter the United States from Canada on Wednesday when U.S. customs officers identified him as a “wanted individual” and placed him under arrest.
He was jailed for more than three hours in Bellingham, Wash., based on an arrest warrant issued May 20 in Randall County, Texas. His attorney, Bill Kelly, said he was released on a $45,000 bond and planned to return to Texas to face drug and burglary charges stemming from his alleged use of prescription painkiller medication.
“He was cooperative, and it was a routine arrest,” said Mike Milne, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
Milne said Leaf's vehicle was identified at the border crossing in Blaine, Wash. Customs officers then checked his identification and arrested him.
Kelly said Leaf was on his way back to Texas to face charges.
“We're not surprised (the arrest) happened, but we were hoping he could come through customs, get on a plane and fly down here (to Texas) and be done with it,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the arrest at the border was “totally unnecessary” but he didn't blame customs officials for doing their job. Instead he blamed prosecutors in Randall County for creating “hype” over Leaf's wanted status.
A grand jury in Randall County issued nine indictments against him last month. Earlier this week, Randall County District Attorney James Farren set a deadline of Thursday morning for Leaf to turn himself in. If not, Farren said he planned to form a more aggressive dragnet to bring him back.
Kelly said Leaf would post a $15,000 bond in Texas, waive his arraignment and address the merits of the charges.
He faces up to 20 years in prison on the felony burglary charge alone.
Leaf, 33, had been working as an assistant football coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, when police there said he broke into a player's apartment Oct. 30 and stole an unknown quantity of a player's prescription Hydrocodone, a painkiller. The grand jury also indicted him with trying to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and delivery of a simulated controlled substance to a player. He was placed on leave from his job in November amid reports he asked a player for a pain pill to aid an old wrist injury. Kelly said Leaf successfully completed drug rehab near Vancouver, British Columbia.
Leaf played college football at Washington State before being selected by the Chargers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft.
Brent Schrotenboer
Originally published 02:03 p.m., June 17, 2009, updated 05:41 p.m., June 17, 2009
The image below won't post. It's Leaf in a prison scrub suit.
Ryan Leaf appears in Whatcom County Superior Court in Bellingham, Wash., after being arrested by U.S. custom agents Wednesday while trying to enter the United States from Canada. Leaf is wanted in Texas on drug and burglary charges. (Philip A. Dwyer/Bellingham Herald) -
Former Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf was trying to enter the United States from Canada on Wednesday when U.S. customs officers identified him as a “wanted individual” and placed him under arrest.
He was jailed for more than three hours in Bellingham, Wash., based on an arrest warrant issued May 20 in Randall County, Texas. His attorney, Bill Kelly, said he was released on a $45,000 bond and planned to return to Texas to face drug and burglary charges stemming from his alleged use of prescription painkiller medication.
“He was cooperative, and it was a routine arrest,” said Mike Milne, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman.
Milne said Leaf's vehicle was identified at the border crossing in Blaine, Wash. Customs officers then checked his identification and arrested him.
Kelly said Leaf was on his way back to Texas to face charges.
“We're not surprised (the arrest) happened, but we were hoping he could come through customs, get on a plane and fly down here (to Texas) and be done with it,” Kelly said.
Kelly said the arrest at the border was “totally unnecessary” but he didn't blame customs officials for doing their job. Instead he blamed prosecutors in Randall County for creating “hype” over Leaf's wanted status.
A grand jury in Randall County issued nine indictments against him last month. Earlier this week, Randall County District Attorney James Farren set a deadline of Thursday morning for Leaf to turn himself in. If not, Farren said he planned to form a more aggressive dragnet to bring him back.
Kelly said Leaf would post a $15,000 bond in Texas, waive his arraignment and address the merits of the charges.
He faces up to 20 years in prison on the felony burglary charge alone.
Leaf, 33, had been working as an assistant football coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas, when police there said he broke into a player's apartment Oct. 30 and stole an unknown quantity of a player's prescription Hydrocodone, a painkiller. The grand jury also indicted him with trying to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and delivery of a simulated controlled substance to a player. He was placed on leave from his job in November amid reports he asked a player for a pain pill to aid an old wrist injury. Kelly said Leaf successfully completed drug rehab near Vancouver, British Columbia.
Leaf played college football at Washington State before being selected by the Chargers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft.
