Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Man to spend eight years in prison after federal indictment
COLFAX — An Airway Heights man, Joseph Baker, 28, was arrested by the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office during a traffic stop in November of 2021 and was sentenced on Monday, June 5, to spend eight years in prison.
Baker was arrested with a large number of narcotics during a fall 2021 traffic stop in Colfax and was found with a stolen loaded handgun, over 800 dollars in cash, over 100 fentanyl pills, two ounces of methamphetamine, two ounces of heroin, and digital scales.
He was initially charged at the state level in Whitman County Superior Court. The U.S. Department of Justice moved the case to federal court in February of 2022.
After Baker’s federal indictment, he was released from custody to attend drug treatment. He stopped going to treatment and was arrested on a fugitive federal warrant seven months later. Baker had failed to appear in court at least a dozen times previously and had at least six felony convictions on his record.
A federal judge in Spokane sentenced Baker to 8 years in prison on Monday, June 12, for possession of meth with intent to deliver.
Olivia Harnack is a Journalist at the Whitman County Gazette. Olivia is enrolled at University of Idaho and is majoring in digital film studies. She serves in the United States Army National Guard and is proud to serve Whitman County.
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