(Michigan City, IN) - It appears a good percentage of the $1.1 million stolen from innocent victims by a lifelong Michigan City con-artist went to feed a gambling addiction.  Adding insult to injury is Timothy Bailey, 53, is still a free man after failing to report to jail.

 

Bailey on March 11 was given a five-year prison sentence and five-years of probation for Level 4 felony Securities Fraud and two other theft related counts in La Porte Superior Court 1.  He was ordered to report to the La Porte County Jail the next day to begin serving his sentence but never showed up.  A warrant was still out for his arrest more than a week later.

 

According to court documents, the slick-talking Bailey met his primary victims at a real estate seminar in Chicago where they began discussing investment opportunities.  The man and woman from Trail Creek, expecting a return on her investment, gave him money to purchase, renovate and sell homes at a profit mostly in the Michigan City area and Union Pier, Michigan. 

 

They later gave Bailey money to build houses on empty lots in Florida for him to sell and give them a percentage of the profits along with interest.  Police said the couple later began receiving dividends from Bailey in the form of checks that bounced, police said.  On a trip to Florida, the victims also drove by the new housing site they invested in only to find empty lots with no sign of any construction.

 

Another victim, expecting a return, lost the $12,500 she gave to Bailey for him purchase a large quantity of plywood.

 

A retired electrician and Vietnam Veteran lost most of his life savings in the amount of $90,000 he gave to Bailey to invest in housing, court documents revealed.

 

Bailey has an extensive prior history of theft related crimes in Porter and Lake counties along with other locations, authorities said.  Court documents also revealed a track of Bailey’s activity on his accounts revealed over $200,000 in withdrawals at casinos or ATM’s near casinos.