Proposed Law To Limit Pre Trial Release Program Applauded By Bail Bondsmen

Florida's Senate bill 372 is being applaided by bail bondsmen throughout the state. While critics claim it is a push by politicians to favor the bail bonds industry.  A similar bill failed last year, but Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff's new bill would limit the availability of pre trial release programs in Florida to indigent defendants. 

 

Currently, Florida laws allows counties to reease people without posting bail if they participate in some ancillary activities such as mental health classes, alcohol/drug testing and drug treatment.  In addition, the defendants must often wear ankle bracelets that allow their location to be tracked by law enforcement. Critics of Senate bill 372 say the current program helps reduce prison populations, at a savings of $85 a day.

 

While on the surface, these are accurate facts, the pre trial release program does not occur in a vaccum. It isn't simply a matter of taking someone out of jail and saving money. What happens when the pre trial release program participant doesn't appear in court. Law enforcement must be tasked with retrieving them. Keep in mind, they have no financial obligation to the courts to appear. Just a promise. However, someone posts a bond or hires a bail bondsman, there is real money on the line. In addition, if they don't appear in court, the bail bondsman (or the bounty hunter they hired) tracks them down at their own expense. If they aren't returned within the specified amount of time, the court keeps the bond. In addition, courts are paid fees to process the bail or bonding of defendants. 

 

While critics of Senate Bill 372 call foul on limiting pre trial release programs, the cost benefit isn't as clear cut as they make it out to be. A bail bondsman serves a vital and integral role in the judicial process which shouldn't be undermined by politics.  

Bail Bonds Related Crime Tops Ohio Enforcement

The Ohio Department of Insurance released their list of the top insurance enforcement actions and fraud for 2010. Bail bonds managed to secure one of the top spots, when Darryl Ables, an Indiana bail bond agent told an Ohio family he was able to write bail bonds for Ohio courts. The family paid him $100,000, which he then stole according to the courts. He was sentenced in September of 2010 to four years in prison and four years of community control on one count of theft by deception. Ables also was ordered to make restitution to the victims.

Bail Bonds Beat Down

Being a bail bonds agent provides individuals with a great degree of opportunity and privilege. Not only can they can earn a substantial living, but they have a tremendous amount of legal authority that has been bestowed upon them.  They are private individuals that have the ability to have people released into their custody from jail and in essence act as de facto jailers for the courts. With this privilege comes great responsibility. Sometimes the authority granted to those in the bail bonds industry is abused and unfortunately that reflects badly on everyone.

Now a pair of men associated with a bail bonds business in Minneapolis, MN have been arrested for crimes committed under the guise of bail bond agents. The two men have been accused of drug, gun trafficking and loan fraud. Police said the duo went by the name, "Beat Down Posse,” lead by Joseph Duane Gustafson Jr. and Troy Michael Neuberger. Police say they committed a series of violent crimes between 2005 and 2009 using the authority of bail bondsmen working for Gustafson’s Bail Bonds, Inc.

They allegedly went to known drug dealer residences and acted as if they were performing a fugitive apprehension. Once they gained entry inside they would allegedly rob and assault those present for their own personal gain. The criminal complaints accuse the group of stealing drugs from the victims and then trafficking firearms and illegal drugs for their own profit.

Bail Bonds Scam A Problem

While out on bail, defendants are trying to prepare their legal defense and put their lives back together. So when scam artists specifically target those out on bail, it can seem especially heartless. Some bail bonds companies in the Longview Washington area are reporting just that is happening.

A number of bail bonds agencies say they've been contacted by someone claiming to be local law enforcement and then asking for a list of all of the people they've written bail for in the past 24 hours. The scam artists take that information and contact the recently released asking for money in relation to the bail bonds that have been posted. They are told they will be returned to jail if they don't remit the additional payments.

The threat of returning to jail is a powerful motivator for a defendant. It is quite easy to envision a defendant or their loved ones readily paying whatever sum of money was asked by con men in this situation. 

Law enforcement reports it is a scam that is prevalent industry wide. Unfortunately, it seems to persist and is now taking its toll in Washington.

Bail Bondsman Has License Suspended For Referrals

Bail bondsman and attorneys have strict regulations about the ways in which they can refer business to each other. More aptly put, many states prohibit a bonds clients from being referred to a criminal defense attorney and vice versa.

A bail bondsman and a criminal defense attorney in Florida have recently felt the weight of those laws.
Matthew McDowell, a Fort Meyers attorney, had his license suspended for 10 days by the Florida Supreme Court. Alledgedly, he accepted clients recommended by Orin Opperman, who is a bail bondsman in Fort Myers. Mr. Mcdowell was also orderd to pay $1,725 to one of his former clients as restitution in addition to fees assessed by the Florida Bar.

For his part in the referral scheme, the owner of Alpha Omega Bail Bonds had his bail bond license suspended for a year by the Florida Department of Financial Services. Mr. Opperman was also accused of comingling funds between client collateral deposits and his business' operating funds. Mrs. Oppermann, who is also involved in Alpha Omega Bail Bonds had her license suspended for six months for referring clients to Matthew McDowell.
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Unlicensed Bail Bondsman Doesn't Get 2nd Chance

Bail bonds are one of the most highly regulated industries. The manner in which new bonds are solicited are strictly spelled out in state laws and those laws are typically watched by the various Departments of Insurance. While most people realize a bail bonds agent or bail bondsman needs a license. What most don't know is that employees of a bail bonding agency are supposed to have strict limits about the interaction they have clients.

Unforutantely this caught Onil Martinez in hot water recently. The Fort Myers bail bond agent was convicted last week for allowing an unauthorized person to work in a bail bond office. Martinez, who oversaw 2nd Chance Bail Bonds, is out on bond until the sentencing hearing,


Although this isn't Martinez's only run in with the law. He was originally arrested in February 2010 and charged with one count each of extortion, grand theft and criminal mischief and two counts of allowing an unlicensed bond agent to act as a bond agent. Authorities alleged he didn’t return a $90,000 bond collateral and destroyed the woman’s property, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges other than on the count for which he was convicted last week.


The charge of allowing an unlicensed person to act as a bondsman is a a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 14.

Bail Bonds Refund Scam Results In Two Convictions

As everyone knows, once a defendant appears in court as ordered and fulfills their legal obligations the bail used to secure their release will be refunded. Shandarrick Barnes and Nathan Jones were recently convicted of using their company Refund Solutions to fraudulently get bonds that had been posted by other people.

Sounds like a sure fire to make a lot money. You get other people's bail for nothing. It also sounds like a sure fire way to go to jail. Common sense says that can't go on for too long before people who rightfully are entitled to their bail refunds come looking for their money. Everything started to unravel for the duo when an actual bond poster tried to obtain their $38,000 from the court and were told it had been released to Refund Solutions. As you can imagine, signatures and id cards are required to walk away with the bail money. Of course, a false driver's license and a forged signature were used to fraudulently obtain the bail refund.

 Shandarrick Barnes was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding the sheriff's office and Cobb County Superior Court clerk and Sheriff's office. Mr. Jones, has not yet been sentenced for his crimes.