A Hawai'i Pacific University softball player who was arrested Saturday will be seeking her release today on a federal drug charge accusing her of trying to sell the drug Ecstasy.

Kellie Nishikida, 20, a junior at HPU in her third year on the softball team, is one of four women being held without bail on conspiracy charges alleging that they were trying to sell the drug. Federal prosecutors asked that the four be held without bail because of the seriousness of the felony charge.

Nishikida's lawyer, Randall Oyama, said yesterday he could not talk about the allegations, but said his client is upset about what happened.

"She's OK and handling it," he said. "She's keeping her head up."

Oyama said the arrest was the first for her client. He said she hopes she can be released and continue her education.

He said he understands that no decision has been made about her status on the softball team.

HPU officials said they "are very concerned about what has happened, but it's unfair to comment until the situation has been addressed by the legal system."

Nishikida and Natasha Hanson, Krystle Kido and Jade Dixon, who were arrested over the weekend, are charged with conspiring to distribute the drug.

Government officials began an investigation of Nishikida and others after tips from an informant and other sources indicated the women were part of a ring selling Ecstasy on military bases and elsewhere, according to a federal affidavit filed in court to support the charge.

The document states that an undercover Army investigator on Saturday spoke with Hanson, who agreed to sell him 60 tablets of the drug at the 24-hour Shoppette on Schofield Barracks.

Hanson arrived at the store about 10 p.m. in a car driven by Kido, who then drove off. Hanson was arrested when she came out of the store. Kido was arrested when she returned to the Schofield Shoppette to pick up Hanson, the document said.

After she was arrested, agents monitored a call Kido made to Nishikida asking for 60 more pills to sell. Nishikida agreed to sell the drugs to Kido for $1,000 and to meet her in the Wal-Mart parking lot, according to the affidavit.

Drug agents and Army investigators went to the Pearl City Wal-Mart, spotted Nishikida sitting in a car and arrested her after spotting a Ziploc bag on the console that contained light green pills.

She admitted selling 62 tablets to Hanson earlier in the day and selling 50 of the tablets to Kido at the same time, knowing the two intended to resell the pills, the document said.

Dixon is accused of trying to sell drugs to Schofield Barracks soldiers. She was arrested and found with 50 tablets of Ecstasy in a bag in the pocket of her leather coat, the affidavit said.

The bail hearing is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. today before federal Judge Magistrate Barry Kurren.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com and David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com.