Seattle mortgage broker pleads guilty in drug-money case

A Seattle mortgage broker pleaded guilty in federal court this week to helping three drug dealers launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash by helping them buy real estate.

In a plea agreement filed with the court, Todd Love, who was employed by Seattle Mortgage Advisors, admitted to structuring illicit transactions on behalf of three alleged drug dealers.

Among the transactions was a September 2003 deal in which Love received $176,000 in cash from Robert Kesling, who in December was sentenced to a 17-year prison term for dealing drugs. Love used the cash as a down payment on a Woodinville home that Kesling purchased for $722,869. Love created false paperwork that indicated the cash was a gift from Kesling's father.

In all three transactions Love was assisted by attorney Joel Manalang, who pleaded guilty earlier this month to related money-laundering charges.

Love will be sentenced Nov. 1.

Seattle

Man, 20, accused of setting house fire

A 20-year-old man was arrested Friday after police say he set a house on fire after a fight with a former roommate.

The Seattle man is accused of going to the home in the 700 block of 20th Avenue at around 10:30 p.m. Thursday and throwing an Xbox out a window, said Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb. The man was reportedly upset over the disputed ownership of the video-game unit.

At some point, a resident of the home returned and the two began fighting, Whitcomb said. The suspect then left but returned a short while later and allegedly set fire to the back porch.

At 12:31 a.m. Friday, the alleged arsonist called the resident he had been fighting with and "essentially taunted the victim and made additional threats," Whitcomb said. The suspect was arrested at his home a short time later, Whitcomb said.

1,500 pot plants found in canyon

The marijuana raid season in Eastern Washington has begun with Douglas County sheriff's deputies destroying 1,500 marijuana plants at the upper end of a remote canyon.

The plants that were uprooted Wednesday were 1 to 3 feet tall and extended along the bottom of the canyon for about a quarter of a mile about 15 miles north of Waterville, sheriff's Sgt. David W. Helvey said. A makeshift reservoir had been built nearby to irrigate the plants with water from area springs, Helvey said.

No arrests were reported.

Cooler weather aiding fire crews

Weather is helping fire crews rein in wildfires around the state, including two that have consumed 78,504 acres in north-central Washington's remote Chewuch Valley.

The Tripod and Spur Peak fires, which merged into one large blaze this week, were 20 percent contained Friday, about the same as Thursday, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Robin DeMario. A quarter-inch of rain Thursday helped, and cooler temperatures and higher humidity Friday were expected to dampen flames and aid line-construction efforts, she said.

The fires are in the Okanogan and Wenatchee national forests, with the northeast corner spread in the Loomis State Forest.

No homes were in imminent danger of burning, although people in the Winthrop area were told to be alert in case conditions change.

In Central Washington, the Flick Creek fire near Stehekin on Lake Chelan was 30 percent contained Friday and was holding at about 4,289 acres, or about 6.7 square miles. About a dozen firefighters were on the scene, focusing on hot spots at the north end of the fire, DeMario said.