Drug program graduate back in jail

It was a little less than a month ago that Spokane resident Christopher J. Rusho received a big hug from Judge Tari Eitzen of the Adult Felony Drug Court. The 21-year-old had just graduated from the program, which cleared him of felony drug charges and preserved his right to vote, and he was all smiles.

That scene is in sharp contrast to Rusho’s life this week. He was arrested Sunday on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver after deputies found 2 ounces of the substance in the vehicle Rusho was riding in, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dave Reagan said in a release.

At the time of Rusho’s Drug Court graduation, Eitzen considered him a success story.

“This is a young man that we didn’t have to throw away,” she said at the June 24 proceeding.

Rusho was one of 10 to graduate that day, the program’s largest class. Since 1997, more than 130 individuals have graduated from the yearlong intensive program.

“It was really hard at first,” Rusho said last month. “But eventually you get used to it, and you start liking it, and you see what you can do.”

Without the program, his mother said Rusho would be dead or in jail.

“It got him headed in the right direction,” Kathy Sanders said in June. “It got him to deal with life in a normal capacity.”

The recidivism rate for graduates is 10.6 percent.

Rusho’s latest incident occurred Sunday, when deputies spotted a Chevy Blazer with faulty taillights. Deputies found that the driver, 18-year-old Steven D. Lassiter, had no operator’s license, Reagan said in the release.

Deputies proceeded to search the vehicle, where they found a backpack containing $755 in cash and a small bowl holding 56 grams of methamphetamine, Reagan said.

While outside the vehicle, Rusho dropped an Altoids container, Reagan said. Deputies asked him to pick it up and show them what was inside.

When he opened it, deputies discovered six small bags of meth – putting the total amount of meth at 2 ounces, Reagan said.

When Rusho was arrested, deputies found a list of names and dollar amounts in his pocket, Reagan said. The deputies’ investigation indicated that Rusho had been selling the substance for the past several days, Reagan added.

A court date for Rusho has yet to be scheduled, and he is no longer eligible for the Drug Court program. Possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver is a felony.