LUBBOCK, Texas — The Texas prosecutor who brokered a plea deal with former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf filed a motion Monday to revoke his probation and will press for prison time.
Randall County district attorney James Farren said his motion probably will be amended as he gets additional details about Leaf’s latest legal problem. Leaf faces four felonies in Montana after allegedly breaking into a home to steal prescription painkillers, then robbing a second home after being released from jail.
“I anticipate amending that motion to reflect other potential charges,” Farren said.
Leaf is likely to face the Montana charges first. He was given 10 years’ probation in Texas in 2010 after being accused of burglarizing a player’s home while he was a coach at West Texas A&M. An investigation found he obtained nearly 1,000 pain pills from area pharmacies in an eight-month span.
Leaf is jailed without bond on a 30-day hold to allow prosecutors in Montana and Texas to sort through the separate cases. Leaf’s Texas attorney, Bill Kelly, declined to comment because he had not seen the motion.
Farren said he is fine with Montana proceeding with its case first, though “our process would probably be shorter because revocation doesn’t take as long” as getting a case to trial.
Late last week, Cascade County (Mont.) prosecutor John Parker charged Leaf with two counts of burglary and two counts of criminal possession of a dangerous drug. If convicted, Leaf faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on each burglary charge and five years for each possession charge.
Should the judge in Leaf’s Texas case revoke his probation, the former Washington State standout and the No. 2 pick in the 1998 NFL draft, could be sentenced to 20 years. The revocation motion cites Leaf’s admission twice to a probation officer in Montana that he had taken oxycodone pills not prescribed to him.
Leaf was arrested March 30 and again in the early morning hours of April 2. Authorities said that both times he was found in possession of oxycodone.
Charging documents in Montana say Leaf’s arrest was the culmination of a monthlong investigation by the Central Montana Task Force that began when Great Falls postal workers tipped authorities that Leaf was receiving frequent packages and paying more than $500 cash on delivery for each.
Last year, Leaf had surgery to remove a benign tumor from his brain stem and later underwent additional radiation treatments.
Leaf’s publicist released a statement from the ex-quarterback after his first arrest that said Leaf has “made some mistakes and have no excuses” but that he is “confident that there will be further understanding when the facts are revealed.”
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