X faced drug charges in ‘98

A former Ferris High School teacher accused of having sexual relations with a student was charged in 1998 in a gang-related investigation involving attempted murders, cocaine and firearms, court documents show.

But when Sayeed X was hired by Spokane Public Schools two years ago, district officials said they weren’t told and didn’t know about his felony arrest and the later dismissal of all charges.

The school district is only told about felony convictions – not arrests – during the course of teacher background investigations carried out by the Washington State Patrol.

Barb Wright, human resources assistant superintendent with Spokane Public Schools, said Wednesday the district had “absolutely no information” about X’s criminal arrest as part of the background check provided to the district by the state.

“I got a clearance basically from OSPI,” Wright said of the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. “I wasn’t aware of that (arrest) information at all.”

Unlike the Spokane district, the state requires teachers to report any arrests when they apply for teaching certificates. X was issued his certificate May 21, 2001, three years after his arrest by Spokane police.

X graduated from Eastern Washington University, where he played varsity basketball in 1992 and 1993. It’s not known where he was a student teacher. School officials are processing a public records request from The Spokesman-Review to examine his file.

The OSPI’s Office of Professional Practices is investigating whether X disclosed his Spokane arrest when he applied for his teaching certificate, said Charles Schreck, director of the state Office of Professional Practices. Lying on the application would be perjury.

Even if X had divulged his 1998 arrest, it may not have prevented the state from issuing him a teaching certificate, Schreck said.

When an applicant has a criminal past, the state examines the information and determines whether the person should be issued a certificate, Schreck said.

On Feb. 7, X resigned his teaching job at Ferris, where he taught history and social studies, after school officials discovered evidence suggesting he had an illegal sexual relationship at the school with a teenage girl. Spokane police detectives are investigating, but no charges have been filed.

The school district waited four days after opening its investigation before reporting the alleged sexual abuse to police. One section of state law requires mandatory reporting within 48 hours when school officials have “reasonable cause” to believe there has been abuse. Another section requires authorities to interview all parties to a complaint before reasonable cause can be established.

In November 1998, Spokane police arrested X, then known as Jason U. Steele, on a felony charge of possessing crack cocaine. The drug was discovered when officers went to an apartment in the West Central neighborhood looking for his brother, Robert Collier, court records show.

Collier, a confirmed member of a California-based Crips street gang, was being sought on suspicion of shooting a police officer in California, Officer Larry Saunders, of the Spokane Police Department, said Tuesday.

Collier was affiliated with a “corporate-level gang which had its primary source of money from the sale of narcotics,” Saunders said in a 1998 court affidavit.

Jason Steele, or Sayeed X, has past affiliations with his brother and other known gang members, including “shirt-tail relatives” living in Spokane, but he is not a “confirmed gang member” under criteria used by the Police Department, Saunders said.

The crack-possession charge against Steele, filed Nov. 25, 1998, was dismissed March 16, 1999, on a motion made by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Cipolla, who heads the city-county gang team, court documents show.

“Good cause exists, pursuant to plea negotiations,” Cipolla said in the order dismissing the charge against Steele. Cipolla didn’t return a telephone call seeking comment.

Routinely, when prosecutors move to dismiss criminal charges with a reference to “good cause,” it can mean that a defendant is cooperating with prosecutors or evidence against the defendant is insufficient. There is nothing in court records suggesting that Steele agreed to testify against his brother.

The 34-year-old school teacher couldn’t be reached for comment this week.

The dismissal of criminal charges against Steele came a month after his brother was charged in U.S. District Court in Spokane with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Collier pleaded guilty to the federal firearms charge in May 1999 and was sentenced the following October to serve 70 months in prison. The Crips gang member later was extradited to Los Angeles, where he pleaded guilty to attempting to murder a police officer. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Steele and his brother came to the attention of the Spokane Police Department’s gang unit in 1998 as its members were investigating a near-fatal shooting on Nov. 8, 1998, at 2317 W. Fairview, court records show.

The shooting, believed to be gang-related, left a man in critical condition with a head wound. He survived.

Ten days later, detectives obtained a warrant charging Collier, also known as Nicholas Paige, with attempted first-degree murder in that shooting. That state charge was dismissed when Collier pleaded guilty to the federal firearms charge.

While police officers were chasing leads on his whereabouts, a tip took them to a duplex in Spokane’s West Central neighborhood.

As police arrived at a duplex at 1854 W. College on Nov. 17, 1998, court documents state officers spotted a white Ford Bronco being driven away by Steele, who was stopped.

When detectives searched both units of the duplex with a warrant, they “located a large amount of cocaine and several firearms,” the documents show. The crack cocaine, estimated to be about 750 grams and worth $15,000, was in individually wrapped packages for street sales.

“Officers also located $2,499 in U.S. currency, several loaded handguns, rifles, shotguns, pagers, cell phones, scales, packaging material and other drug-related items,” according to the court records.

A search the following day of Steele’s white Ford Bronco turned up a loaded handgun and $8,320 in cash in small denomination bills, the documents show.

Also in one of the apartments was a “nylon-type briefcase that contained Jason U. Steele’s identification card,” the documents state.

Following that search, police went to 3707 W. Queen, where Steele also had been staying, the documents show.

During a search of that home Nov. 18, 1998, police found three rifles and a shotgun and court papers related to the search the day before of the duplex on West College.

Steele was charged in District Court with carrying a concealed weapon and theft, but those misdemeanor charges also were dismissed.