Police say PF man sold heroin 3 times - to police

A Post Falls man who allegedly sold heroin to police officers while he was on probation is being held on $50,000 bail in the Kootenai County jail.

Gabriel C. Ashby, 29, faces four felonies, including trafficking and three counts of delivering a controlled substance.

Ashby was on probation for a previous drug charge when he was arrested in the parking lot of the Post Falls Walmart last week after allegedly selling a bindle of heroin to a police informant. It was his third transaction selling drugs to undercover police officers or informants in a month, detectives said.

At Ashby’s first court appearance on the latest charges, deputy prosecutor Carmel Abblitt asked for a high bail amount.

“He continues to deal while he’s on probation. He’s a danger to society for the substances he’s dealing,” Abblitt said.

Detectives of the violent crimes task force said that in January, Ashby sold a gram of heroin to a police informant for $140 during a transaction in Post Falls, and that Ashby sold an undercover officer a half gram for $80 earlier this month. During a third buy, a police informant in Post Falls purchased another half gram of heroin, this time for $70 before Ashby was arrested while meeting with two people in the Walmart parking lot.

Ashby was driving a green Chevrolet pickup truck when he walked over to a blue Nissan Pathfinder, spoke briefly with an occupant through an open window and walked away, according to police.

Police said a quarter ounce of heroin was found in the pickup with numerous baggies to package drugs. Ashby’s cellphone was confiscated.

The occupants of the Pathfinder, Justin R. Jordan and Shanda Hanson, were arrested, according to police.

Trafficking between 5 and 10 grams of heroin carries a fixed mandatory minimum prison term of three years and a $10,000 fine. Delivery of heroin can carry a prison term of up to life.

Ashby will have a hearing within 21 days. In addition, a March 27 probation violation hearing is scheduled.