Rainier Beach High School anti-drug mentor also a dealer, police allege

A drug-and-alcohol-intervention specialist at Seattle's Rainier Beach High School has been indicted on a charge of selling narcotics, at least once leaving the school campus in the middle of the day to make drug deals, according to documents unsealed Friday in U.S. District Court.

Robert Henry Smith, 59, a district employee since 1992 and a drug-intervention specialist at Rainier Beach for the past 12 years, pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment alleging he and another man — a convicted federal drug felon — were selling the powerful narcotic oxycodone.

Seattle police Detective Rudy Gonzales said there was no indication at this point that Smith was dealing drugs to students. However, Gonzales said, he's continuing to gather information. Smith, according to Seattle School District spokeswoman Patti Spencer, has been a district employee since 1992.

She said officials are pulling Smith's personnel records, and at this point it is not clear what he was doing for the district between 1992 and 1998, when he was promoted to a drug-and-alcohol-intervention specialist.

Those specialists — whose qualifications Spencer didn't have immediate access to Friday afternoon — are managed out of school-district offices but are assigned to various schools. They are responsible for identifying students with drug or alcohol problems and hooking them up with resources in the community.

Spencer was careful to point out that Smith was not a counselor. He is not licensed with the state of Washington in any medical or counseling profession, according to Department of Licensing databases.

Spencer said Smith has been placed on administrative leave. Smith's attorney, Christopher Black, declined to comment after the hearing.

"Our community has the right to expect that we have high standards for our employees," Spencer said. "This is something we are taking very seriously."

The indictment alleges Smith was buying oxycodone from Adrian Demetrius Johnson, who served three years in prison following a 1992 conviction for distributing cocaine. Smith then sold the oxycodone to others, the indictment alleges. To build the case, police used a confidential informant to make four drug buys beginning in November, with the last being Wednesday night.

Johnson also entered a not-guilty plea at Friday's hearing.

When Johnson was arrested Wednesday, police interviewed people waiting outside his home to buy drugs. Some said they'd bought narcotics from Smith as many as 20 times, according to court documents.

On one occasion, Smith allegedly left Rainier High School during school hours to meet the informant two blocks away to make a drug deal.

Gonzales and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisca Borichewski acknowledged the quantities involved were not particularly large — one sale involved eight pills, worth roughly $800 on the street.

The federal conspiracy and distribution charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $2 million.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler ordered both men held pending detention hearings next week.

Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com