PRINCIPAL ACCUSED OF TIPPING OFF MOM IN POT INVESTIGATION

Daughter Of School Board Member Allegedly Carried Drugs On School Bus

BLAINE - The principal of Blaine high school faces criminal charges in
Whatcom county for allegedly tipping off a school board member that her
16-year-old daughter was under investigation for transporting marijuana on
a school bus.

The bus travelled between the Washington state communities of Point Roberts
and Blaine, passing through Surrey and Delta.

Dan Newell, principal since 1990, was charged Tuesday with rendering
criminal assistance and obstructing a law enforcement officer, accusations
based on clandestine phone conversations with the school board member from
a pay phone on Dec. 2, 2003.

Each offence is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $5,000 US fine.

According to an affidavit filed by Peter Dworkin, assistant chief criminal
deputy prosecuting attorney in Whatcom county, Newell had been informed by
police about the continuing investigation into marijuana smuggling aboard
the school bus and the fact that the board member's daughter, identified
only as C.M., was specifically targeted.

Newell is quoted as stating anonymously on the phone: "I am from the school
and I know [C.M.]. I am concerned about [C.M.] being on the bus. She is on
videotape with a large duffel bag. If she is doing anything illegal, she
needs to not do it on the bus or at school. She is suspected as one of the
students they are watching."

The voice on the phone later added he worked for the school and that "this
conversation never took place because my career would be in jeopardy, you
have to promise me that."

Questioned later by police, Newell said he was "just trying to help a
school board member," according to the affidavit.

Police claim the daughter was smuggling eight to 10 kilograms of marijuana
on almost a daily basis from Point Roberts to Blaine aboard the bus,
earning $1,000 to $2,000 a time.

The parents moved their daughter out of the state as a result of the phone
call, and no charges were laid against her.

The girl's boyfriend, James Jarosz, 18 at the time and living in Point
Roberts, eventually recruited other bus students to haul drugs, said the
affidavit.

In June 2004, Jarosz was charged with three counts of delivery of marijuana
and one count of conspiracy to delivery marijuana. His trial is pending.

Mary Lynne Derrington, superintendent of the Blaine school district, issued
a brief news release Tuesday saying Newell had been placed on paid
administrative leave pending the outcome of his case.

He is to appear in Whatcom county district court on Feb. 4.

The former school board member -- whose name is not being published to
protect her daughter -- defended Newell in an interview with the Bellingham
Herald, saying she recognized his voice, and that his warning saved her
daughter from prosecution and got the girl to clean up her act. "The whole
situation gave her life back," the mother said.

The investigation was conducted by the Whatcom county sheriff's office, the
Blaine police department, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.