Man who reneged on agreement with police back in jail for trafficking

A man who reneged on an agreement to work as a police informant after being arrested in a January drug bust is back in jail.

Joshua N. Bailey, 25, was arrested last week during a traffic stop after police learned he was still dealing drugs, according to a report.

Bailey is charged with one count of trafficking heroin and being held on $50,000 bail.

Bailey was arrested in a Jan. 14 drug bust on the 4500 block of Idlewild Loop but he wasn’t charged after agreeing to work with police.

But officers said he didn’t follow through on the agreement.

“Bailey has barely cooperated with further investigations,” according to a police report from the North Idaho Violent Crimes Task Force. “He has continued to sell drugs and cause problems … (He) has admitted to selling pounds of meth per day and ounces of heroin per day.”

In addition, police said Bailey has been involved in a robbery, aggravated assault, and in multiple thefts.

“These are just the reported incidents,” according to the NIVCTF report.

Earlier this month, Bailey told police he had been jumped by more than a dozen gang members.

Since his January arrest, he has spent a month in jail and was placed on misdemeanor probation, according to police.

Police arrested Bailey last week as he was leaving a Stateline hotel in a brown pickup truck.

When a K-9 alerted on the pickup truck, Bailey told police he was on his way to purchase methamphetamine from a Spokane dealer. Officers told Bailey to conduct the drug deal in Idaho, but he would not cooperate and was arrested on the original heroin trafficking charge, police said.

“Due to Bailey’s … continuance of criminal activity, his threat to society as a drug dealer while on probation,” police arrested Bailey and added another charge. He also faces a misdemeanor marijuana and paraphernalia charge.

Despite a lengthy criminal history, public defenders asked for a $25,000 bail for Bailey, who attorneys said is a framing carpenter, whose girlfriend is pregnant, and who has lived in Rathdrum for 10 years. Prosecutors asked for $75,000 bail.

Bailey’s next court date is within two weeks in Coeur d’Alene’s First District Court.