By The Associated Press
Former NFL and Washington State University quarterback Ryan Leaf is in custody in Whatcom County on drug and burglary charges out of Texas after being arrested by customs agents as he returned to the United States from Canada.
Leaf was arrested today, according to James Farren, the district attorney in Randall County in West Texas.
Whatcom County legal assistant Jennifer Bonstein said an extradition hearing is scheduled for this afternoon in Bellingham.
Bill Kelly, Leaf’s attorney, said his client was returning to Texas to turn himself in by a Thursday deadline.
Leaf, 33, was indicted May 20, charged with burglary to a habitation, a second-degree felony. He was also charged with seven counts of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and delivery of a simulated controlled substance.
Canyon, Texas, police Lt. Dale Davis said last month that Leaf was suspected of breaking into a Canyon apartment on Oct. 30 and stealing the painkiller Hydrocodone, which had been prescribed to an injured football player.
Farren said at the time of the indictments that Leaf has been undergoing drug rehabilitation in British Columbia, the Amarillo Globe-News reported.
Leaf led Washington State to the 1998 Rose Bowl, ending a 67-year drought for the Cougars. He was drafted No. 2 overall by the San Diego Chargers in 1998, but could not equal the success he had with the Cougars. In a career lasting four seasons, Leaf threw for 3,666 yards, 14 touchdowns and 36 interceptions.
He later went on to become quarterbacks coach at West Texas A&M in Canyon, but resigned after allegedly asking one of his players for a pill to help him deal with pain from an old NFL injury.
