Leaf pleads guilty to stealing painkillers

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges that he broke into a Montana home and illegally possessed painkillers, part of a deal with prosecutors that recommends he spend nine months in a secure drug treatment facility.

The former San Diego Chargers quarterback and Washington State standout was shackled hand and foot and wore a black-and-white prison stripes as he told Cascade County District Judge Kenneth Neill that he needed treatment.

“I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity presented,” Leaf said. “An intensive nine-month rehab facility is presently needed.”

It was one of the few statements Leaf made in the hearing under questioning by his attorney, Kenneth Olson. Leaf admitted that he broke into a home in Cascade County on April 1. He then admitted that a few days earlier, on March 28, he illegally possessed oxycodone that was not prescribed to him.

Leaf pleaded guilty to one count each of felony burglary and criminal possession of a dangerous drug. Under the agreement, County Attorney John Parker agreed to dismiss two other counts of burglary and drug possession.

Neill set sentencing for June 19. Parker and Olson are recommending a five-year sentence in the custody of the Montana Department of Corrections for the burglary charge.

Olson said that recommendation will include a nine-month program at the Nexus Treatment Center in Lewistown, a center affiliated with the DOC, where Leaf would be locked down and unable to leave. That would be followed by time in a pre-release program in which Leaf’s movements would be restricted.