Briefly

Man gets prison term in stabbing

A Spokane Valley man was sentenced Wednesday to 93/4 years in prison for stabbing another man in the stomach last April.

Denis Fedorovich Ekkert, 20, may face deportation to his native Kazakhstan when he completes the sentence, his attorneys said at his sentencing hearing.

Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen handed down the minimum standard sentence, which included a mandatory two years for use of a deadly weapon. Ekkert could have gotten up to 121/4 years.

Eitzen convicted Ekkert of first-degree assault, as charged, in a non-jury trial last month. She rejected his claim that he wasn’t properly advised of his constitutional rights because a police officer didn’t use a Russian interpreter.

Testimony indicated Ekkert translated for his Russian-speaking father in the course of a Juvenile Court case that taught Ekkert his constitutional rights. Ekkert and his family came to the United States six years ago.

Ekkert stabbed David T. Felten in front of Felten’s home in the 100 block of East Longfellow. Ekkert and a couple of friends followed Felten to his home after a traffic incident involving mutual allegations of obscene gestures and comments.

Police seek man wanted on drug charges

Law enforcement authorities are seeking information on a man suspected of committing drug crimes.

Keith Sherman Neal, 31, faces federal charges including distribution of more than five grams of crack cocaine, possession of more than 50 grams of the drug and being a felon in possession of a firearm, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said in a press release.

Neal, who sometimes used the name Bird, is black, 5 feet 9 and 170 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. He has ties to the Los Angeles area and has been wanted since 2002.

Anyone with information on Neal is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233 or Secret Witness, which is offering a reward for information that leads to his arrest, at 327-5111.

Window shot out at Liberty High School

Spokane County sheriff’s officials are looking to find the person responsible for shooting out a window at Liberty High School over winter break.

A window in a back classroom in the east end of Liberty High, E. 6404 E. Spangle Waverly Road, was shot out with shotgun blasts between 6 p.m. Dec. 29 and 8 p.m. Dec. 30, said sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan in a press release.

The vandalism was reported by a teacher to School Resource Deputy Matt Gould on Monday.

Investigators believe that the same person or persons may responsible for shooting a telephone box that was damaged by shotgun blasts in the same time period at Cameron and Parker roads.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Child molester moves to Spokane area

A man who was convicted of child molestation in 1995 has moved to the Spokane area, police reported.

Donald James Stickels, 28, is not wanted by police, but is considered to be a high risk to commit other sex crimes.

The victim in the 1995 case was a 4-year-old boy.

Stickels is white, 5-foot-8 and 165 pounds with brown hair and hazel eyes.

Mother gets prison for sexual exploitation

Everett A woman who directed and videotaped her two children and an older teenager having sex at her home has been sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.

Michelle Lynn Houser, 34, of Bothell, who pleaded guilty last fall to second-degree child molestation and two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, wept as she told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard J. Thorpe her crimes were out of character.

“I just know I would never do anything like this again to my children, anyone’s children,” Houser said.

The sentence issued by Thorpe followed the recommendation of prosecutors. Defense lawyer Natalie Tarantino proposed a prison term of about a year less, at the bottom of the standard range.

Houser’s boyfriend, David Ernest Hill, 34, also of Bothell, faces trial next month on several charges in the case.

Investigators said Hill and Houser allowed her son, 13, and daughter, 15, and a 17-year-old girl who was a friend of the daughter to watch pornographic movies and drink alcohol on July 16, then filmed them having sex.

One of the girls was so drunk she couldn’t remember what had happened, deputy prosecutor Janice Albert said.

“This is a very disturbing case,” Albert said. “This was a brutal act.”

Four Whidbey Island schools vandalized

Oak Harbor, Wash. Four north Whidbey Island schools have been hit in six incidents of vandalism over the past two weeks, including the spray-painting of a swastika at a middle school, officials said.

Students and neighbors have been asked for help to stop the attacks and security has been increased, said Bruce Worley, executive director of the Oak Harbor School District.

“We’ve agreed to increase the frequency of police drive-bys, and our security guys have basically doubled the security rounds for the schools that have been hit,” Worley said. “We want to stop this from happening.”

Damage is estimated at $5,000 and includes broken windows, a burned tree and graffiti at Oak Harbor and North Whidbey middle schools and Broad View and Hillcrest elementary schools.

A swastika was spray-painted onto a middle school in the week before Christmas, but police Capt. Rick Wallace said it did not appear to be racially or ethnically motivated.

Inslee named to Energy and Commerce panel

Washington Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., won a seat Wednesday on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, the lone Democrat from the Pacific Northwest on the panel that oversees issues ranging from energy and technology to health care.

“Washington state has finally received a much-needed voice in Congress on the Energy and Commerce Committee, and I look forward to vigorously representing the needs of our state,” Inslee said in a statement. “This appointment is an important opportunity to protect the Northwest’s unique energy situation with the Bonneville Power Administration, advance renewable energy programs and ensure the federal government’s commitment to cleaning up” the Hanford nuclear reservation.

Inslee said he would use the seat to promote policies that enhance innovation and growth in the high-tech and biotech sectors and would push to advance the state’s position with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements.

Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over a wide range of business, energy and health-related issues, is widely considered among the top committees in the House.