A man charged in a fake lottery ticket scheme in Kootenai County was arrested on a warrant Wednesday, but 34-year-old John W. Day was already in the custody of Nez Perce County authorities.

Day had been arrested on similar charges in Lewiston, where he and accomplices pocketed hundreds of dollars after printing and cashing phony pull tab tickets in local bars, police said.

After being sentenced in Lewiston, Day was allowed to attend the Good Sam rehabilitation program in Coeur d’Alene. That’s where Coeur d’Alene police served Day the felony warrant, prompting a visit with a judge who learned that Day had a year ago — before being arrested in Lewiston — allegedly ripped off bars in Kootenai County for more than $1,000, according to police.

He is charged in First District Court with one felony count of counterfeiting a lottery ticket, the same charge he was convicted of in Lewiston. A conviction carries up to five years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

According to police, Day and Rodney K. Olson ran a pull tab racket in which they copied and printed phony winning pull tabs. The phony tickets mimicked the Idaho Lottery “Touch Tab” ticket with a $300 payout, police said.

The tickets were cashed or presented at the Corner Bar in Coeur d’Alene, the El Patio at Stateline, the Falls in Post Falls, but the bartender at the Hogfish on East Sherman in Coeur d’Alene kept the ticket and called police after noticing the pull tab looked suspicious.

Day, Olson and Lucas S. Chane were arrested a week later in Lewiston and charged for the same racket. Police said they found 40 counterfeit tickets, a laptop and printer used to make the tickets, and drug paraphernalia in the men’s car. The men were responsible for cashing more than $800 in fake tickets, police said.

Olson pleaded guilty, and Chane has a June trial scheduled in Second District Court.

Day’s probation violation hearing is set next month in Lewiston, but in the meantime, Kootenai County Magistrate Clark Peterson kept a $10,000 bond in place and released Day back to the Good Sam program.

“If you walk out, or terminate, I will issue a warrant,” Peterson said.