Bail Bond Laws Allow Poor To Be Exploited?

Those paragraphs are chock-full of fees: $250 if the defendant misses a weekly check-in; as much as $375 an hour for obscure tasks like bail consulting and research; and unspecified amounts if Mr. Zouvelos, a bail bondsman based in Manhattan, farms out tasks like obtaining court documents or delivering release papers to jail.
Then there are the thousands of dollars that Mr. Zouvelos can charge if he decides to revoke a bond and return a defendant to jail, as he did 89 times during a four-month period last year.
The common perception of how the bail-bond system operates is fairly straightforward: A bondsman bails a defendant out of jail. If that defendant misses a court appearance, the bondsman can “surrender” him — chase him down and haul him back to jail.
The reality is more troubling.
Vague laws and insufficient oversight have allowed some bondsmen in New York to return defendants to jail for questionable or unspecified reasons, and then withhold thousands of dollars to which they may not be entitled, according to lawyers, judges, state regulators and even some bondsmen.
Those cases turn the system on its head: Those who are supposed to give poor defendants a shot at freedom while their cases are pending are instead the ones locking them up and disenfranchising them further.
The laws “are open for exploitation,” said James Carfora, a Long Island-based bail bondsman.
“They need to be more specific,” he said. “If I bail a guy out today and I don’t like him, I can put him back in jail, and it’s O.K. To me, that’s screwed up.”

Complaints against bondsmen have risen in recent years, according to the New York State Insurance Department. Although the allegations may often involve only a thousand dollars, that sum can be the difference between freedom and detention for indigent defendants who make up most of bondsmen’s clientele.

Over a four-year period that ended in mid-July, the department received 227 complaints against 43 bail-bond agents. But those figures may represent only a fraction of the actual grievances: People often do not know when a bondsman is violating their rights or where to file a complaint, experts say.

But the complaints have been alarming enough that the Insurance Department, which licenses bondsmen, is considering implementing new regulations intended to rein in agents who do things like place onerous restrictions on defendants, frequently surrender them, and deduct excessive fees from the cash collateral that clients are supposed to get back.

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Bail Bonds Group Fined For Campaign Issue

A political group that pushed unsuccessfully to require bail bonds in more criminal cases in Colorado has been fined for campaign finance violations.

Safe Streets Colorado was fined $12,200 for improper reporting before raising money to put the bonds question on ballots last year.

The proposal would have made it harder for people awaiting criminal trials to be released under supervision without having to post bail. Critics called the measure a kickback to help the bail bonds industry. The measure failed by a wide margin.

Colorado Ethics Watch filed the complaint. Administrative Law Judge Laura Broniak made her ruling public on Tuesday.

Bail Bondsman In Hot Water After Shooting

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT)- A bail bondsman and the suspect he was trying to take into custody are both facing charges this morning-- after a violent scene in the parking lot of Clinton Plaza.

A KPD officer responded to a shots fired called at the North Knoxville shopping center-- when he came across the bondsman-- Darrin Charette-- holding James Branam at gun-point.

Charette, who works for "Donna's Bail Bonds" out of Jefferson County, claims he was trying to detain Banam on a warrant out of that county.

Police believe that Charette fired several shots in the suspect's direction, when he tried to make a run for it.

The scene unfolded near an open day care and a number of other businesses.

Both the bondsman and his intended catch are facing a number charges, while Branam was returned to Jefferson County to face the prior charges.

Judge Loses Bench Over Bail Bonds Gifts

Seems like recently we've seen quite a few bondsmen arrested for illegal business practices or issues relating to their bonding agencies. However, someone from the other side of the fence has been identified in a bail bonds scandal. Thomas Porteous, a well known federal judge in Louisiana, has been removed from the bench after a US Senate hearing. At issue, was his acceptance of gifts from bail bondsmen. Gifts included trips, meals and other items of value. The problem is that these gifts may have affected the judge's consideration of bail bonds and treatment of the bondsmen on the cases.

Testifying against Porteous was a a New Orleans bail bondsman, would said that he took the judge on expensive trips, provided lavish meals at expensive restaurants, and had his cars filled with gas and washed. In exchange, the judge would set bail for defendants at the highest amount possible. Therefore the bail bondsman would earn higher bail bonds fees.

While the Senate convicted him 69-27, the charges actually pertain to his time as a state judge. This is unusual to say the least, that a federal judge was removed for actions stemming for time prior to the federal judgeship. Although, this was far from Porteous' only knock. Other allegations relate to unrelated cases where he improper contact with attorneys or false statements during his own bankruptcy proceedings.

Even though Congress found Porteous guilty, he was not charged with any criminal offenses. After an exensive 8 year investigation by the the Justice Department and FBI, no indictments were handed down. The judge blamed gambling and alcohol as reasons for his actions.

Bail Bond Agency To Forfeit $100,000 Bond

A federal judge has ordered a bail bond company to forfeit the $100,000 it promised to guarantee court appearances by an Ohio woman who later fled the country following her corporate fraud conviction.

Garcia Bail Bonds of Phoenix had asked the judge to reconsider after fugitive Rebecca Parrett was found and arrested in Mexico in October.

U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley ruled Wednesday that the bond company had done nothing to locate Parrett after she fled and that the government had expended considerable resources tracking her.

An attorney for the bond company says he has not yet seen the ruling.

Parrett was convicted in 2008 in the $1.9 billion fraud case. She is being held in the Franklin County Jail in Columbus following her return to Ohio about a week ago.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio fugitive convicted in a $1.9 billion corporate fraud case has returned to Ohio after her arrest in Mexico in October.

Rebecca Parrett was being held in the Franklin County Jail in Columbus on Wednesday following her return to the state about a week ago.

Drew Shadwick of the U.S. Marshal's Service says a court date has not yet been set for Parrett.

She disappeared in March 2008 after she was convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud and other charges in a scheme at health care financing company National Century Financial Enterprises.

A judge sentenced her in absentia to 25 years in prison.

A message was left Wednesday with attorney Gregory Peterson, who has previously represented Parrett.

To read more go to: Bloomberg Business Week

Celebrity Loses $1 Million Bail

American actor RANDY QUAID and his wife EVI QUAID have forfeited $1 million in bail bonds after failing to show up for their latest court date, less than a month after they missed their previous hearing, reports the New York Post.

The couple, who were scheduled to appear in court on charges of felony burglary, failed to attend the hearing in Santa Barbara California yesterday (16th November 2010). They were previously scheduled to appear in court on October 18th 2010 on the same charges, and after failing to attend, the judge issued a warrant for their arrest. The Quaids have been the subject of much media attention in recent months due to their strange behaviour. After initially being arrested for 'squatting' in a home that did not belong to them, the couple claimed they were the next intended victims on a 'Hollywood death list', which, they say, had already caused the deaths of HEATH LEDGER, CHRIS PENN, and DAVID CARRADINE.

The couple's lawyer, BOB SANGER, told the judge yesterday that the Quaids had not appeared because Randy's passport had been confiscated by Canadian authorities after he attempted to claim asylum there. Warrants for the couple's arrest are still in effect, and Judge DONNA GECK said that the $500,000 bail bonds placed on both individuals had now been forfeited

Three Arrested For Posting Fake Bail Bonds

This one comes to us from India. While we try to focus on bail bnds issues in the United States, thi is just to interesting to pass up. Imagine what would hapen to a bail bonsman in the who got caught for trying to post fake bail bonds.  

LUDHIANA: Three people have been booked on the directions of a judicial magistrate first class for having submitted fake bail bonds in a case in the court of Judicial Magistrate first class, Deepti Gupta.


The accused were identified as Sandeep Singh of Sunder Nagar, Ludhiana, Malkit Singh of Basti Bajigar, Misal Nagar, Doraha and Lal Chand of Doraha. They were booked under sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 199 (for false statement made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence), 200 (for making a declaration which is inadmissible merely upon the ground of some informality) and 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.


The complainant stated that the accused had furnished false bail bonds. The accused had earlier too furnished such bonds. "We have arrested all the accused in the case," said investigation officer Jaspal Singh.


Sources said there was a need to check this illegality that was being highlighted almost everyday and strict action taken to root out the problems completely. In petty offences like cheque-bounce cases, personal bonds should be accepted and if the accused fails to appear in court, an action for declaring him a proclaimed offender should be initiated straight away. This would help to curb illegal acts like those of the furnishing of fake bail bonds and the harassment of people for acquiring the same, said advocate Deepjot Singh.

For more please go to: India Times