‘Dangerous’ Inmate Walks out of Rhode Island Prison with Someone Else’s ID

CRANSTON — It was 45 minutes after inmate Nayquan J. Gadson presented the identification of another prisoner and walked out of the Adult Correctional Institutions Tuesday before guards realized they had been tricked, the state police say.

By then, the 21-year-old was gone.

Gadson, who had been held at the ACI since July 2 and was facing numerous charges including first-degree robbery, possession of a firearm in committing a crime of violence and eluding police, became the first prisoner to escape from the prison since career criminal Scott Kelly Hansen slipped out in November 1998 by posing as a federal marshal, according to Providence Journal archives.

Throughout the day Wednesday, members of the State Police Violent Fugitive Task Force, as well as police from across the state, searched for the 5-feet, 8-inch, 170-pound inmate. Due to his past record, he has been deemed highly dangerous by the state police.

Capt. David S. Neill, state police detective commander, said Gadson, who had been assigned to a two-man cell in the Intake Center’s H Mod, is believed to have hatched the plan for his escape while talking to another inmate who was assigned there.

Neill refused to identify the other inmate, referring to him as “John Doe.” Neill said the inmate advised Gadson that he would be walking out of the prison if he could make bail. Gadson, according to Neill, concocted a scheme whereby a friend on the outside would contact a bail bondsman to say that Doe was ready to make bail.

With the payment arranged, both Doe and Gadson knew that the bondsman would be coming by the facility Tuesday at 5 p.m. to do the final paperwork for Doe’s release. In anticipation of his arrival, the two men switched cells, Neill said.

Each cell typically serves two inmates, but on Monday, Doe moved into an empty cell because Gadson’s roommate was due for a court appearance. Gadson moved into Doe’s cell, sharing space with Doe’s roommate.

According to Neill, the unsuspecting bondsman, whom Neill also refused to identity, showed up at the Intake Center to make the bail payments for Doe. Told that Doe was ready to be released, a guard went to his cell and found two prisoners, one of whom identified himself as Doe.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Prosecutor: Okla Bondsman Facing Charge Kills Self

WYNNEWOOD — A Wynnewood bail bondsman committed suicide Monday, five days after he was arrested on an allegation he attempted to bribe a district attorney, authorities said. Louis Perry, owner of Perry Bail Bonds, was free on bail when he reportedly shot himself in the chest, said Carter County District Attorney Craig Ladd. Perry and

his wife, Ramona, were arrested July 21 on a

complaint they attempted to bribe Ladd. Ladd had asked that the case be assigned to the Bryan County district attorney's office, since he expected to be a witness. Tim Webster, Bryan County

assistant district attorney, said he is still reviewing evidence in the case to determine whether a criminal charge is warranted against Perry's widow.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Bail Bond Companies Claim Conflict with Pretrial Release

Cradling his office phone between his head and left shoulder, Raul "Katt" Brewster grabs his cell mid-ring and answers, "Bail bonds."

His fluorescent orange office walls hit like smelling salt. They keep him alert, Brewster says.

"Twenty thousand?" asks Brewster, the manager of the Wilmington office of Powell Bail Bonding. "Can you come up with a G? ... Can you come up with a thousand?"

In the few minutes between phone calls, Brewster talks about his trade and its "adversary:" pretrial release.

Sitting eight miles away in an office at the New Hanover County courthouse, Ray Murphy disagrees.

The pretrial release contractor says, "The public is going to win when pretrial and bonding cooperate."

Bail bonding companies and pretrial release programs get people out of jail as they wait for their court date. Both say they reduce prison populations.

But bail bonding companies say pretrial costs taxpayers money that should be spent elsewhere, while pretrial advocates say the program rehabilitates offenders and monitors them as they pay fines and child support.

For some bail companies, the feud has become political. Brewster said bail bond companies lobby state legislatures to limit pretrial release programs and represent their interests on other issues.

Locally, the Lower Cape Fear Bail Bonding Association represents bail agents, while the North Carolina Bail Agents Association is its statewide counterpart. Also, the N.C. Bail Agents Association Political Action Committee raises money and donates it to General Assembly campaigns and committees.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Pope To Be Protected From Arrest On UK Visit

The Government has moved to prevent the possibility of an arrest warrant being issued against the Pope during his state visit this autumn.

Sky News understands that Whitehall officials have been "seriously concerned" that campaigners would use international criminal rules to try to detain the Pontiff while he is in the UK.

Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC were among those campaigners reported to be looking at the options for bringing a private prosecution in relation to the Pope's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Now Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has proposed changes to the rules on universal jurisdiction, a law that allows individuals to be prosecuted in the UK for serious offences such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture even if they were carried out abroad.

The plans would mean the Director of Public Prosecutions would need to give his consent to any arrest warrant issued under universal jurisdiction.

This would effectively mean taking that power out of the hands of the courts.

Ministers say the current rules are open to abuse because the evidence required to get a warrant is far below the threshold that would be needed to bring a prosecution.

This has meant the rules are often used by those who wish to make a political statement or to cause embarrassment.

The most recent attempt to obtain an arrest warrant for a foreign dignitary was ahead of the visit by former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni who cancelled her trip at the last minute to avoid embarrassment.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Fort Myers Woman Tried to Pay for Bail with Stolen Property

Lee County sheriff’s deputies arrested a Fort Myers woman after they say she was taking an acquaintance’s belongings to pay her bail.

Nicole Degrasse, 24, received charges of burglary, larceny and dealing in stolen property. She had been booked into jail Saturday for possession and sale of opiates.

Degrasse’s acquaintance Brianna Neberman found Degrasse and two bail bonds agents in her apartment on Lakeshore Lane Monday around 10:30 p.m.. When Neberman looked alarmed, the bail bonds agents asked if Degrasse lived there, which Neberman replied she did not, according to a sheriff’s report.

Degrasse’s bail had been set at $35,000 and she needed $3,500 collateral to give to a bail bonds agent so she could get out of jail, the report said. Degrasse had taken the agents to another apartment, which she could not unlock, then took them to Neberman’s, where she said she also resided.

Degrasse had attempted to take DVDs, a laptop, a watch, an Apple Ipod and keys to a Ford Mustang.

Neberman’s boyfriend called deputies, who placed Degrasse under arrest.


Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Bail Bondsman Fatally Shot Inside Rancho Santa Margarita Home

The owner of a bail bond agency was shot and killed inside a Rancho Santa Margarita home, authorities said Sunday.

Just before midnight Saturday, 49-year-old Dean Patrick Maldonado of Newport Beach arrived at the residence of a woman he knew and entered the house in the 21300 block of Stonetower Lane through an unlocked sliding glass backdoor, Orange County Sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.

The woman, about 45, had a 51-year-old male guest with her, and neighbors reported hearing the three screaming before multiple shots were fired, Amormino said. Maldonado, who runs Dean Maldonado Bail Bonds, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The relationship of the three was unknown. "What led up to the shooting is under investigation and no arrests have been made at this point," Amormino said.

According to his Facebook page, Maldonado was single and had at least two children.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Inmate Involved in Bail Bondsman Jailhouse Scheme to be Released After Time Served

NAPLES — One of Collier County jail’s most frequent inmates was expected to walk out of the jailhouse doors a free man Wednesday night.

Patrick Rosemellia, 46, whose rap sheet contains about two dozen felony convictions and more misdemeanors, was expected to leave the jail hours after Circuit Judge Frank Baker granted his defense attorneys’ motion to enforce a plea agreement they contended the State Attorney’s Office reneged on.

The man he was to testify against as a star witness — Naples bondsman Joe Houston — still hadn’t posted his bond by 7:30 p.m.

“The state and Mr. Rosemellia had an agreement, and my client did his part,” defense attorney Beverly Brennan, co-counsel with attorney Michelle Hill, said afterward. “I’m very glad that Judge Baker took the time to consider our arguments and then held the state to their promise.”

Two months ago, Baker denied their motions, but Hill filed a new one, attaching transcripts to prove Rosemellia — once the state’s star witness in cases against Houston and his business partner, Juanita Williams — hadn’t changed his testimony. Hill and Brennan argued he had consistently maintained he had no agreement with Houston to pay him for sending inmates to him for bonds.

In April, Baker ruled that Rosemellia violated a plea agreement and sentenced him to five years in state prison for acting as a bail bondsman without a license and violating probation due to a new drug arrest.

A day before sentencing, Brennan filed a motion to enforce the 15-month plea agreement.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Assistant State Attorney Dave Scuderi told the judge he revoked the plea deal after Rosemellia changed his story in depositions and court hearings.

Wednsday afternoon, as Houston and Williams watched, Baker sentenced Rosemellia to 19.4 months in prison, time served because Rosemellia had been held 23 months. He hugged his lawyers, but was returned to jail to be processed and released.

He’s not truly a free man because he was arrested on a drug charge four days after his release from prison last September.

The bond case, which relied on Rosemellia, took years for investigators and prosecutors to build against Houston and his business partner, Williams, and Liberty Bail Bonds and Express Bail Bonds. It sparked protests that the two were being targeted because they are black.

South Daytona Police Get Arrest Warrant for Clumsy Would-Be Robber

An arrest warrant has been issued for the man suspected of dropping his handgun into the lap of a woman he intended to rob late Friday, South Daytona police said.

Raymond Lewis Shepard, 25, of Daytona Beach, faces a charge of attempted robbery with a firearm. Police said Shepard was the passenger Friday in a black Chevrolet Impala that stopped on Pineapple Road in front of a vehicle driven by Carol Costello, 69, who had just left a Walmart store on Beville Road.

Shepard jumped from the Impala and tried to smash open the driver's side window with a silver, semiautomatic handgun wrapped in a towel, police said. Shepard failed to break the window, so he jumped on the hood of Costello's car and shattered a hole in the windshield with the butt of the gun, records show.

Shepard then dropped the handgun through the hole and into the Costello's lap. She grabbed the gun and pointed it at Shepard, who ran back toward the awaiting Impala, police said.

As Costello tried to drive away, she hit the front of the Impala and copied the car's license tag before Shepard and the driver sped off.

No one was injured, and no shots were fired.

Shepard dropped his cell phone at the scene and Costello was able to identify Shepard from digital photos saved to the phone, police said.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Zimbabwe diamond activist wins bail

HARARE — A Zimbabwean high court on Monday released a rights activist charged with endangering Zimbabwe's economic interests by highlighting abuses at diamond mines.

High court judge Mawadze Gurainesu said the prosecution had failed to give good reason on why Farai Maguwu, director of Centre for Research and Development should be denied bail.

"In my view the charges are very simple, clear and straightforward," the judge said.

"They involve publication of falsehoods prejudicial to state. The presumption of innocence operates in favour of the appellant, in other words grounds for refusal of bail should be substantiated."

Maguwu was arrested last month after meeting with a representative of the Kimberley Process watchdog assigned to investigate whether Zimbabwe had stopped the military from forcing villagers into working in the diamond fields.

Gurainesu said Maguwu should deposit 1,500 dollars with the clerk of court and ordered him not to travel beyond a 40-kilometre (25-mile) radius of his home.

The judge said Maguwu should not be made to pay for the slowness of the police investigation.

"Even at this late hour this court is not sure when the investigations would be completed," he said.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Bail Bondsman Jailed on Drug Charges

A Shreveport bail bondsman faces multiple drug and weapons charges after an investigation by the Caddo-Shreveport Narcotics Unit.

Agents arrested Grayson Bailey, 38, after a traffic stop at the intersection of Interstate 49 and state highway 3132 Tuesday afternoon.

They seized 90 Lortab pills in various containers from Bailey after the stop, said Shreveport police Lt. Richard Childers.

Agents searched Bailey's office on Texas Street in downtown Shreveport and seized Adderall, a prescription medication used to treat attention deficit disorder; Soma, another prescription medication; steriods; Viagra; and more Lortab. Officers said Bailey didn't have a prescription for any of those drugs.

Bailey was charged with three counts of manufacturing-distribution of a Schedule III drug, one count of manufacturing-distribution of a Schedule II drug, one count of manufacturing-distribution of a Schedule IV drug, two counts of possessing firearms while possessing controlled dangerous substances and one count of possession of a legend drug without a prescription

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Free agent QB JaMarcus Russell No Longer on Jets' Radar After Arrest

JaMarcus Russell effectively eliminated himself from becoming a Jet any time this millennium with his latest bonehead move. The free agent quarterback was arrested at his Alabama home today for possession of a controlled substance during a police investigation.

The former Raiders signal caller was busted for codeine syrup, which can be mixed with soda to create “Purple Drank.” (Russell didn’t have a prescription for codeine).

He posted $2,500 bail and is due in court on July 20.

The Jets recently made an exploratory call to Russell’s agent after the former No. 1 overall pick was released by the Raiders. However, a league source told me last week that the chances of Russell signing with the Jets were less than 10 percent.

Not surprisingly, the Jets are no longer interested in the career underachiever, according to a source.

Russell, the poster boy for draft busts, won only seven of his 25 career starts with a career passer rating of 65.2. He was paid $36.4 million in his first three seasons.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Suspects Indicted in LA for Celebrity Burglaries

LOS ANGELES — Five people accused of burglarizing celebrities' homes now face conspiracy charges after a grand jury issued an indictment against the group.

The indictment, unsealed Friday, details the research and planning that went into the break-ins at the homes of stars such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Orlando Bloom and Megan Fox.

In the case of the break-in at Hilton's home, the indictment alleges group members prepared detailed floor plans, including the placement of security cameras and where the heiress stashed a key to the front door.

The group already faced a variety of charges, but prosecutors opted to present their case to grand jurors rather than having a judge evaluate the evidence during a preliminary hearing. Now, the group may go on trial by November.

They are accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of clothing, jewelry and other luxury items. Some of the property, including Hilton's jewelry, have been recovered. But prosecutor Sarika Kim said in court Friday that one of the defendants, Rachel Lee, may still have some of the goods.

An investigator previously told The Associated Press the value of the unrecovered property may be as much as $2 million.

The burglaries targeted young celebrities with homes in the Hollywood Hills between October 2008 and August 2009. Hilton's home was the first one burglarized; the indictment states planning started a month earlier.

The indicted include Nicholas Frank Prugo, who is charged with seven felony burglaries and has been described as a mastermind of the thefts. A 44-item summary of the alleged crimes states that Prugo often developed a "shopping list" of items to steal from the stars.

Also indicted were Lee, Courtney Lee Ames, Roy Lopez Jr. and Diana Tamayo.

The five pleaded not guilty Friday and agreed to return to court Aug. 12.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Orange County bail bond agent accused of running illegal referral scheme

A bail bond agent was arrested Friday on suspicion of running an illegal bail bond referral scheme, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Ronald Lee Brockway, 50, of Seal Beach allegedly solicited attorney referrals and inmate business, according to the district attorney’s office, which charged him with two felony counts of violating bail license regulations.

Brockway is accused of violating a state law that prohibits bail bond employees from soliciting business from inmates or recommending any attorney to clients. Brockway allegedly sent e-mails to attorneys soliciting them to participate in the bail bond scheme with his company, Respect Bail Bond. He also allegedly mass mailed fliers to the Orange County Jail advertising his business.

He is being held on $50,000 bail. If convicted of all charges, Brockway faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!