Bounty Hunter Upset by Charges

Behind the tattoos covering his arms and creeping up his neck, Roger Brooks of the Marble City area is awell-spoken 33-year-old who has found himself on the wrong side of the law after nearly 10 years of trying to overcome his criminal past.

A case of mistaken identity that led to a botched bond enforcement operation in June may cost the self-professed bounty hunter 15 years of his life - behind bars. Now Brooks is coming forward in the hopes of clearing his name.

"We worked really really hard to come as far as we have...not to be looked at as criminals," Brooks said of his and his wife, Lisa.

Brooks, along with another man, Rodney Swearingen, was charged this summer with burglary and malicious injury to property after an incident that occurred while the two were allegedly working as bond enforcement agents, known as bounty hunters.

Brooks and Swearingen entered a Muldrow man's home in June and broke down a bathroom door in an attempt to apprehend the man whom Brooks and Swearingen thought was the fugitive they were seeking. But the "Frank McConnell" they thought they had located turned out to be the wrong man - a man by a different first name.

That mistake led to charges of burglary and malicious injury to property against the former bounty hunters - charges that Brooks calls unfair. Brooks is most puzzled that he was charged with burglary, instead of trespassing or a lesser charge.

"I'm not a burglar," Brooks said.

But Kyle Waters, the assistant district attorney who is reportedly handling the case, said the charge of burglary is often misconceived and doesn't always refer to theft. He said burglary doesn't require intent to steal anything, but is defined as entering without permission a residence to commit a crime.

Waters said the crime in this case was that Brooks and Swearingen broke down a door and threatened someone.

"They left without a word when they realized they made a mistake," Waters said.

Waters noted that Brooks' contact with Swearingen, a known felon, was also in violation of his probation. He said Brooks has waived his preliminary hearing and Brooks was going to do community sentencing, but didn't qualify.

A hearing that was set Monday in Brooks' case was continued. Swearingen currently has an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Brooks said he had been a bounty hunter in the county for a long time - a job that he discovered he was good at doing after years of only being good at "rough housing."
Brooks said he had been working for Berglan Bail Bonds in Sallisaw for a year at the time of the incident. During that time, Brooks said he never made a mistake, until this year. He said now the owners of the bond company are denying he worked for them.

But Lance Berglan, the owner of Berglan Bail Bonds tells a different story.

BERGLAN'S STORY

Berglan on Thursday said Brooks was doing construction work for him at the time that Frank McConnell jumped bond. But Berglan denied that Brooks had been working for him as a bail bondsman for a year.

"That's not true," he said. "If he did, it wasn't for me."

He said Brooks offered to go get the man, a situation that he said "turned into a nightmare" and resulted in Berglan firing Brooks.

He claims that Brooks took it on himself to kick down a door and go into a home with his shirt off. Berglan noted that bounty hunters do not have to be licensed.

Berglan said when he needs someone caught, he tells anyone, even retired officers, that they are welcome to find the person. The bond retriever then gets a percentage from the bond.

He said he warns all bounty hunters not to go into anyone's home unless they see the person go into the home or public place. "It has to be the right guy," he emphasized.

Berglan said Brooks and Swearingen had no business going in the home. "They didn't know he was in there."

"What they did is against the law. He knew he was in the wrong," Berglan said.

He said he has been in the bond business for five years and he has never gone into anyone's home without seeing the wanted person go into the home. He added that he has never been brought up on charges either.

Berglan noted that he bonded both men out of jail after the incident, and would not divulge some information he said was between he and Brooks.

"They screwed up."

THE INCIDENT

In June, Brooks said he and Swearingen, who was his partner, went to an address in Muldrow that Frank McConnell, who had allegedly skipped bond, was supposedly staying.

Brooks said he had the Berglan Bail Bond file on McConnell with him and was even driving a Berglan vehicle at the time.

While the address he went to was a McConnell address, Brooks said, "Unfortunately it was the wrong McConnell."

But Brooks didn't discover that error until it was too late.

On that day, Brooks said he went through an open garage door and knocked on a door to the home, identifying himself as a bounty hunter. Brooks said he looked through the window of the door and saw what appeared to be an elderly person's home and saw that it looked like someone had been sleeping on a couch. He thought that person was Frank McConnell.

The two staked out the place for a while - waiting on someone to pull up to the home. After about 30 minutes the two went to get a snack and drink, came back and again approached the home, but no one was there, Brooks claims. Brooks said he wondered why the garage door was left open if no one was home.

"Something tells me this guy is in there," he said.

He went back to watching the home when he said he saw a person peek out from the window blinds.

A few minutes later, Brooks and Swearingen made their move. Brooks said he and Swearingen shed their shirts because they thought there could be trouble. But he claims the two were wearing fugitive recovery jackets the previous times that they knocked on the door to the home.

Brooks said he went up to the same door in the garage the third time and saw a man laying on the couch watching television. He said he could only see a knee and half the man's face.

Brooks said he beat on the door, identifying himself and calling out the name "Frank McConnell."

He then saw the man run to the back of the home.

"Everything is fitting together," Brooks said.

Brooks said he and Swearingen discovered the back sliding glass door was open and entered the home. Brooks claims he called out "Frank McConnell" before going into the home and identified himself as a bounty hunter.

"At no point did he send me away," he said.

Brooks admits to kicking the bathroom door open and told the man to put his hands behind his back.

"I never touched him," Brooks said.

Brooks said at that time, the man told him he was not Frank McConnell and retrieved his driver's license to prove his identity.

Brooks said they immediately left the home and after calling his boss, they went to the police department and were arrested on the burglary charge.

He said that he thought he might face a charge of trespassing or other misdemeanors, but is instead facing felonies.

"I didn't go in the house with the intent to take anything," he said.

VICTIM'S ACCOUNT

The victim told police that about an hour prior to the break-in, two men, without shirts and covered in tattoos, knocked on his door and the victim chose not to answer it.

Shortly before the victim called police, the same two men came back to his home, which was owned by the victim's mother, and the victim heard the sliding door rattle and thought the men were breaking into his home. Police said after the incident that the victim fled to the bathroom, where he locked himself in. The men allegedly kicked in the bathroom door, got in the man's face and were calling him "Frank" McConnell.

The victim, who has a different first name than the wanted man, told police that he was afraid of the men, but thought if he could prove he wasn't Frank they wouldn't hurt him. He showed them his driver's license and the men left.

The victim, who was in his 50s, said the shirtless men had mace, flashlights and handcuffs on their belts.

While Brooks admits that he made a mistake, he said he doesn't think the charge against him is fair since he claims he was under the direction of his employer.

Brooks said he has been advised by his attorney, whom Berglan retained for him, not to go to trial because of the way he looks. But Brooks seems unwilling to end up in prison again.

He admits he has a criminal past and spent time in prison 10 years ago. But Brooks said he has been clean for 10 years and he has been trying to give back to the community.

Brooks, who is also a tattoo artist and has 154 tattoos himself, said that since the incident he and his wife have lost both their vehicles and they are behind on their bills.

"It's not right," he said about the charges and the possibilities he faces.

Two Bondsmen Serve as “Middlemen”

Caddo District Judge Michael Walker and Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Claville corrupted the judicial system by taking bribes in return for favorable rulings in cases before them, federal prosecutors said today in announcing a racketeering indictment against the two men.

Walker's alleged actions included reducing bonds for accused drug dealers to amounts the defendants could make in return for kickbacks, investigators said. Walker, who presides over drug cases, received both money and prescription drugs, investigators said. The bribery began in 2004, the year after Walker went to the drug court, the indictment charged.

Claville allegedly took kickbacks to lift holds so individuals could get out of jail, the indictment charged.

"They are indicted for selling justice," the FBI's Matt Chapman said at a news conference today at the United States Court House in Shreveport.

Walker, 57, took an indefinite leave from the bench today. The Louisiana Supreme Court has been forwarded a copy of the indictment and will decide whether to suspend him while the case is pending.

Claville, 56, also turned over his caseload to another judge and officials of Juvenile Court notified the Supreme Court of the 24-count indictment.

Both men will make their initial court appearances in two weeks.

Neither Walker's attorney, Richard King, nor Claville's lawyer, Ron Miciotto, returned repeated calls for comment.

The investigation, code-named Broken Gavel, centers in large part on whether Walker would take bribes if defendants posted bonds after their bails had been reduced to affordable amounts, prosecutors said. Two bondsmen -- one of whom was indicted -- acted as middlemen, the indictment said.

Walker, who received cash and "other things of value," would make himself available to quickly set bonds, reduce bonds, recall arrest warrants and remove probation holds on accused drug dealers and users, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington said.

Those "other things" were prescription pain killers, investigators said.

Claville, in return for cash, would remove "holds" on people so they could get out of jail, Washington said.

"The fox is out of the hen house," said Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator, whose office initiated the investigation.

Agents obtained wiretaps of Walker's cell phone and agents conducted surveillance of the two judges during the nine-month investigation, sources said.

Also indicted was Shreveport bail bondsman Larry Williams, 41, the owner of A-Instant bail bonds.

The acts alleged in the indictment occurred this year, the grand jury said. The defendants each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted as charged.

Infant Hurt By Bounty Hunter Using a Taser

An infant was hit in the hand by a Taser fired by a bounty hunter, but apparently not shocked, when the child's mother used the infant as a shield, police said.

The mother, whose name was not released, was later arrested for child endangerment.

Preliminary police reports said the bounty hunter had tracked a man to a car at an apartment complex in northwest Oklahoma City Friday night.

"At some point the bounty hunter felt it was necessary to deploy the Taser, and a female in the car apparently held her infant up to shield herself from the Taser," said Sgt. Keith Vance.

One of the Taser probes lodged into the infant's hand, but the child was not shocked, since the other probe missed, Vance said.

Emergency responders were called to the scene about 6:30 p.m. Friday to treat a child with a bloody hand.

During the commotion of the child being hit by the Taser probe, the man, whom police identified as Joe Hawkins, tried to drive away and crashed his car at the complex, Vance said.

After wrecking the car, Hawkins, 28, escaped after he jumped out of the car and ran away, dropping a firearm in the process, police said.

Police also arrested a second, unidentified, woman, who they discovered was listed as an escapee, though it was not clear from where she escaped, Vance said.

The bounty hunter, who also was not identified, apparently did nothing wrong, according to Vance.

"He can certainly use a Taser if he feels there is a need to do so," Vance said.

Bounty Hunters Released

Two would-be bounty hunters roughed up by neighbors and arrested after trying to take a Ferndale woman to court against her will were released from jail Wednesday because they acted within the letter of the law, police said.

Christopher Hight, 52, of Bremen, Ga., was arraigned on a carrying a concealed weapons charge in the incident, but he and his 53-year-old brother from Blountville, Tenn., were both released. He must return for an Oct. 25 preliminary exam on the weapons charge.

Both men were arrested Tuesday after one lured the 48-year-old woman out of her Albany Street home on the pretext of having a cup of coffee and the other jumped from nearby bushes.

Police were called shortly after midnight on a report of the pair dragging the woman to their pickup truck. Neighbors armed with a golf club and baseball bat stopped them from placing her in the vehicle. Hight suffered a head wound in the resulting fracas.

"Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do," said Lt. William J. Wilson. "The neighbors came to her defense. Someone called police. The police responded quickly and took them into custody.

"Only problem is, the two men were completely within their legal rights in grabbing her."

Inside the truck, police found two loaded .22-caliber handguns, duct tape and plastic "flex cuffs," which they planned to use to tie the woman up for the ride back to Georgia. She was scheduled to appear today in court on a drunken driving and drug possession charge, Wilson said.

This year, Hight, who is related to the woman's cousin, had put up $10,000 bond through a bail bondsman for her to be released and was concerned she did not plan to show up for court, forfeiting bond.

Under Michigan law, in all criminal cases in which people have provided bail and want to be relieved from the responsibility, they can -- with or without police assistance -- arrest or detain the accused and deliver him or her to any jail or to the sheriff of any county. "It's an outdated law, but it's on the books," said Wilson. "They decided to do it all themselves, which is also their right. But it could have had a tragic result."

Bondsman Faces Five Felony Charges

Five felony charges have been filed against a bondsman who attempted to apprehend a bail jumper.

David W. Vinson, of Versailles, was charged with assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, discharging/shooting a firearm at or from a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree after events unraveled Friday afternoon.

Czech Penal Code Will be Changed

Czech Justice Minister Jiri Pospisil (Civic Democrats, ODS) today presented a draft new Penal Code that aims at the improvement of the protection of people.

Pospisil said the government might discuss the bill this year and the Chamber of Deputies would thus be able to take a vote on it next year.

The new legislation lowers the age of criminal responsibility from the current 15 to 14 years and toughens the punishment for grievous bodily harm from the current 8 to 12 years. It also toughens the conditions for the convicts' release from prison on bail.

The Justice Ministry has embedded people's proposals in the new version of the bill. Out of the 330 proposals the ministry received 27 found reflection in the legislation, Pospisil said.

The new Penal Code does not address euthanasia. It was mainly the junior governing Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) who emphatically protested against including a law in the new Penal Code that would legalise the practice of ending the life of a person who is terminally ill on his or her own request.

The new legislation will strengthen the position of state attorneys who will no longer be obliged to submit to a court all cases of suspected crimes or offences, but will be able to assess by themselves the extent of their threat to the public.

The current Penal Code was adopted in the 1960s and has been amended many times.

In the past, the Chamber of Deputies discussed the ministry's draft new Penal Code. However, it always rejected the bill and sent it back to the Justice Ministry for reworking.

Two Ex-Bondsmen Charged

Two former bail bondsmen have been sentenced to four months in prison as part of a plea deal in which they admitted to conspiring with a prominent Orange County defense attorney to illegally solicit jail inmates for his law firm.

Alejandro de Jesus Cruz, 35, of Florida, and Jorge Andres Castro, 31, of Aliso Viejo were also sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay $9,000 restitution by Superior Court Judge Carla Singer on Friday.

In February, they pleaded guilty to a pair of felonies, saying that they were paid by Irvine attorney Joseph Cavallo to solicit clients on his behalf. Cruz and Castro operated Xtreme Bail Bonds in Santa Ana between June 2003 and August 2005. They have since lost their licenses because of the case.

Castro's attorney Peter Scalisi called the sentence "a fair and just way to resolve the charges."

Cavallo is scheduled for trial on October 22 on similar felony counts, including conspiracy to commit attorney capping, conspiracy to commit attorney recommendation by a bail licensee and violating a bail license regulation. He has pleaded not guilty.

Cavallo defended the son of a former Orange County assistant sheriff in two high-profile sexual assault cases.

Cruz and Castro may be subpoenaed to testify against Cavallo, said Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said after Friday's sentencing. Scalisi said Castro would rather not testify against Cavallo, but will if he has to.

Prosecutors allege that Cruz and Castro kept stacks of Cavallo's business cards at Xtreme Bail Bonds and that Castro instructed employees to refer clients to Cavallo in exchange for kickbacks.

State law prohibits bail bond workers from recommending any attorney to a client, even if no money changes hands. The law also prohibits attorneys from paying non-lawyers for client referrals.

New Laws Could Affect Bail, Sentencing for Terror Suspects in Canada

Hassan Almrei is considered a threat to Canada's national security, but the main reason he will now begin his seventh year in custody without trial is that he doesn't have a wife or relative to serve as his warden.

The 33-year-old Syrian and former Toronto resident was denied bail yesterday, making him the only terrorism suspect held on the national security certificate law that the Supreme Court struck down earlier this year.

Four other non-citizens accused of links to al Qaeda and like-minded groups have been released under strict conditions into the care of their spouses and relatives.

But Almrei, who will remain at a Kingston jail dubbed "Guantanamo North" by its critics, is not married and has no family in Canada.

A federal court justice found that the supervision he offered – living in the home of a Toronto supporter with a 75-hour work week – and his willingness to wear a GPS tracking bracelet, were insufficient safeguards to ensure that Almrei would not disappear if released on bail.

"The length of his detention he has now incurred and indeterminate future length of his detention in the future favour his release," Justice François Lemieux wrote in a 49-page ruling released yesterday.

"(But) the proposed conditions of his release will not, on a balance of probabilities, contain or diminish the risk he represents. Therefore, he cannot be released."

Lemieux also said the GPS bracelet could only indicate when Almrei was no longer in his residence but, "before the authorities could apprehend Mr. Almrei, he could and may be long gone."

The government alleges Almrei supports an "al Qaeda ideology," and operated a forgery ring for the terrorist network. Lemieux upheld former court findings that Almrei continued to be a national security risk even though he has been in custody since October 2001.

"Mr. Almrei only revealed his true activities when he felt trapped. He economized the truth," Lemieux wrote.

"A comparison of the confidential information with his testimony demonstrates he continues to hide truth."

The government wants him deported to Syria – but Almrei says he will be tortured or killed if returned.

In a prison interview with the Toronto Star last month, Almrei said he spends most of his days in his cell watching Canada's parliamentary channel CPAC. While he hopes the Canadian public will demand one day that he be brought to trial, he said he still feels great affinity for his adopted country.

"I'm being held under an unconstitutional law.

"I'm not going to say it's really depressing because I'm not depressed. ... Am I happy? No, I'm not happy, but I deal in reality. I come from Syria, I come from Saudi Arabia, I come from dictatorship countries," Almrei said.

Six months ago the Supreme Court stuck down key provisions of the immigration law known as national security certificates, ruling it was unconstitutional because it allowed the government to rely on secret evidence from Canada's spy service, without giving defendants a chance to refute the allegations. Parliament was given one year to amend the law before it's declared invalid. Last weekend Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day told a security conference in Calgary he plans to introduce the new legislation in the fall. Almrei could again be charged under the new system.

Bondsman Must Establish Fugitive Is Dead

A bail bonding company has 60 days to prove a murder suspect is dead or risk losing $350,000 put up to promise the fugitive's appearance in court.

David Coffman, 46, skipped town in September 2006 while facing a first-degree murder charge accusing him of fatally shooting his 47-year-old girlfriend Julie Hall in the back.

In January, police and ABC Bail Bonding received photos of a dead body in the mail that the sender claimed was Coffman's. The photo allegedly was shot during an autopsy conducted in Mexico and the package included copies of Coffman's bank card, credit cards, Social Security card and a photo of his girlfriend said to have been found on the dead man's badly beaten body. It also included fingerprints, which the FBI confirmed were Coffman's.

But Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Russell Clawges and Prosecutor Marcia Ashdown say that's not good enough.

At a court hearing Tuesday on whether ABC Bail Bonding should forfeit the $350,000 put up for Coffman's bond, Clawges gave the company 60 days to provide dental records or DNA tests that match Coffman to the body.

Ashdown said Wednesday that the body in the photograph "may very well be'' that of Coffman, but it also could be part of "an elaborate hoax.''

Attempts to obtain copies of any police or autopsy reports to validate Coffman's death or have the body returned to West Virginia for testing have been unsuccessful, she said.

"We were told it's not like here, where police document everything,'' she said.

Though ABC Bail Bonding is fully responsible for the bond, Coffman's mother, Gloria Linger, was originally led to believe that she could lose her home if her son skipped out on his bail, Linger's attorney, Lynne Crane of Morgantown, said Wednesday.

Linger has since gone through bankruptcy, but maintains possession of her home, according to bankruptcy records filed in the Northern District of U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The $350,000 bond "was an unsecured debt. There was no lien on her property,'' Crane said.

Police said Coffman shot Hall over the Memorial Day weekend in 2006 after she told him she was leaving him.

Coffman was last seen at a Mount Morris, Pa., truck stop, where his Jeep was found in late September 2006. Police think he likely caught a ride south with a truck driver.

Their attention turned to Mexico after Coffman's bank account was tapped in Mexico City.

A call to the bonding company's attorney, David Jividen of Wheeling, was not immediately returned.

Trial Could Shine Light on Bail Bond Loopholes

One of the city's most lucrative bail bond companies is on trial in Baltimore Circuit Court, and testimony in the obstruction-of-justice case could shed light on an industry that some public officials are trying to reform.

Milton Tillman Jr., his son, Milton Tillman III, and Bernard Dixon are accused of conspiring to use the same properties to post bonds for multiple defendants. The Tillmans own 4 Aces Bail Bonds, and Dixon is one of the state-licensed bondsmen they employ.

The trial, which began yesterday and is expected to last several weeks, could reveal loopholes in the bail system that allow dangerous defendants to remain free while awaiting trial. Scheduled to testify are court commissioners who set bail and accept bonds, other bondsmen and possibly judges.

"You'll hear about a scheme that has been operating for years," Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth A. Ritter told jurors in her opening statement. The Tillmans' firm, she said, figured out "how to get people out of jail, legally and illegally."

Each defendant is charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and could be sentenced to as much as 35 years in prison if convicted. Dixon and the younger Tillman also are charged with perjury, which carries an additional 10-year sentence.

Defense attorneys for the Tillmans and Dixon say the three are hardworking businessmen who have done nothing illegal. But then 4 Aces "started making more money than anyone else in the city," said A. Dwight Pettit, the elder Tillman's attorney.

"What happens when that happens?" Pettit asked during opening statements. "It's time to investigate. He's got to be doing something wrong because he's making too much money."

Pettit and defense attorneys for Dixon and Tillman's son said envious bondsmen reported false allegations to police and prosecutors eager to reform the system.

Pettit acknowledged problems with the bail bond industry, calling it "arbitrary and capricious."

"The thing about it is, there weren't any rules," he told jurors. The only abiding principle, he said, is that "you'll make money if you do things the right way."

Opening statements spanned about 90 minutes, and the testimony from the first witness, a District Court commissioner, was cluttered with objections - sometimes in unison - from the defense lawyers.

It was a preview of what promises to be a tangle of a trial in many ways. The defense attorneys - Pettit, Edward Smith Jr. and Steven A. Allen - have a century's worth of combined legal experience.

Ritter, a lawyer for 28 years, has studied the bail bond industry extensively, serving on a court-appointed task force in 2003 to investigate the issue at the root of the 4 Aces case she is prosecuting.

For that reason, the defense attorneys asked that she be dismissed from the case. Circuit Judge M. Brooke Murdock denied that motion. The judge also denied a motion that she recuse herself from the case because of her judicial colleagues' interest in bail reform.

The attorneys told jurors that they would need to learn the dull details of the bail system and warned of an onslaught of paper evidence, "more documents than you've ever seen before," Ritter said.

During opening statements and the District Court commissioner's testimony, jurors' heads were bobbing and brows were furrowing.

James Heard, a commissioner for 33 years, testified about how bails are set and how bonds are posted. He said state-licensed bondsmen are insured up to a certain dollar amount and can post up to that amount to have defendants released from jail as they await their trials.

These "corporate bonds" can be combined with property postings.

With the latter kind of bonds, a commissioner reviews a tax document to determine the value of a property. Up to 80 percent of the value can be posted, after subtracting the mortgage owed and any other liens and fees, Heard said.

Court documents show that prosecutors believe 4 Aces was sometimes using a fraudulent mix of corporate bonds and property bonds to get people out of jail.

Attorneys Smith and Allen said 4 Aces might not have used perfect business practices but that its employees did not consciously commit any crimes.

"You'll see boxes of evidence," Pettit said, "but you won't hear anything about Milton Tillman doing anything wrong."

The elder Tillman is a convicted felon, however. He was imprisoned for tax evasion in 1996 in a case that involved skimming profits from his business, and in 1993 he pleaded guilty to trying to bribe a city zoning board official in an attempt to keep open Odell's, a North Avenue nightclub that was known for fights and gunfire.

It is unclear whether jurors will hear anything about his past.

The 50-year-old, who has owned dozens of dilapidated properties, told a reporter after a pretrial hearing in May, referring to the charges he is now being tried on, "This will all be explained. I'm an honest businessman."

Xue's Gone - Just Ask Lone Wolf

If anyone knows about hunting fugitives in Los Angeles, it is the bail bondsmen and bounty hunters in the street front offices stacked along Vignes St.

This is prime real estate for the men who make their living in this line of work - right outside the inner-city Twin Towers Correctional Facility.

The bondsmen stump up for the bail on an alleged felon, and take responsibility for them coming back to court. If they run, the bounty hunters go after them with 134-year-old legal rights to recoup their costs and then some.

They can't go after Nai Yin Xue - a fugitive from the New Zealand police and United States authorities - but did offer their opinion yesterday on the chances of him being caught: It's possible, but "good luck".

The Herald visited yesterday, disturbing men sleeping at their desks with baseball bats beside them or slurping extra-big Cokes in front of computer games. Garish signage, neon lights and an array of names starting with "A" did little to distinguish one from another.

At The Bail Hotline, Gustavo Contreres - a part-Mexican, part-Navajo Indian who goes by the family name "Lone Wolf" - offers the same advice to the authorities that his mentor offered him on entering the business 20 years ago.

"The best hunter is the one that has not lost his hunt already," he said.

Mr Contreres said the best chance for authorities lay with their access to public databases and "big brother" technology: while bounty hunters have some rights to certain information, they cannot get it all.

He said because Xue had no roots in the US, the trail would go cold, if it hadn't already.

But he said the American attitude in itself could be enough to catch Xue - be it from a public tipoff or simply a lawman's ego at having a fugitive slip his grasp.

"We are a cowboy country that believes in justice: people won't like him on the run," Mr Contreres said.

Bondsmen and bounty hunters fitted in with the American belief in justice, he said.

It gave the innocent the chance to fight their case on the outside, and took the rights from those who skipped bail by letting the common man track him down.

He proudly produced a tatty, laminated copy of the 1873 Taylor vs Taintor Supreme Court ruling that enshrines those rights with the words "arrest and surrender of principal by bondsman".

Bounty hunters have been banned in some states, and Mr. Contreres blamed the likes of Duane "Dog" Chapman, the star of reality television show Dog the Bounty Hunter, who is known to overstep his legal rights. "He has bought shame on the profession."

At Bert Potter's Bonds, Juan Ibarra also used the word "roots" as the best way to track a man - friends, family and associates. He said the resourceful and unattached Xue could be "anywhere on this planet".

Woman Charged With Acting as Bondsman

A High Point woman faces numerous charges for allegedly taking property from a man while presenting herself as a bail bondsman.

Tiffanie A. Brack, 25, of 1146 Wayside Drive, was arrested Monday and charged with obtaining two parcels of land, a 2006 Land Rover and estimated $34,000 from William A. Sapp, no age or address given, according to warrants filed at the Guilford County Magistrate’s office.

Warrants state Brack presented herself as a licensed bondsman, when in fact she has never been a licensed bondsman in North Carolina.

She is charged with four counts of obtaining property under a false pretense and is being held on a $150,000 bond.

Bounty Hunters Need Training

It's time for the Washington Legislature to revisit the issue of bounty hunters to ensure that they are properly trained.

The Legislature took a positive step in 2004 when the House and Senate unanimously passed House Bill 2313 to set minimal expectations for the bail bondsmen industry.

It's a tough job.

When a person is booked into jail, the defendant generally turns to a bail bond agency to post a bond to guarantee that the defendant will appear for future court dates. A friend or relative of the defendant usually pays a premium, generally 10 percent of the bond amount, for this service, as well as providing collateral such as a lien on a home. If the defendant does not show up as scheduled for court, the defendant is considered a fugitive from justice and the bail bond company is liable to pay the entire amount of the bond. A grace period is generally granted so the employees of the bonding agency — so-called bounty hunters — can try to track down the defendant and get that person back before a judge.

It's dangerous work because bounty hunters are searching for fugitives who don't want to go back to jail.

In the 2004 legislation, lawmakers established a system of mandatory licensing for bounty hunters. The law requires prior notice to local law enforcement agencies including identifying clothing information when bail bond recovery agents make a planned forced entry to apprehend a fugitive.

The Legislature said bounty hunters must be at least 21 years of age and cannot have been convicted of a crime in the past 10 years. Bounty hunters must have 12 hours of training.

And with that minimal training, Washington's bounty hunters are using firearms, handcuffs, batons and stun guns to apprehend bail jumpers and bring them back to justice. Their training pales in comparison with that of law enforcement officers who use similar tools to apprehend criminals.

The state's oversight once a bounty hunter gets a license is minimal, and that's why legislative remedies are warranted.

For one thing, Sherri Lonsbery, manager of the state's bail bond licensing program, said the standards for what's an offense of a bail bond company are unclear. "We don't regulate bad behavior," Lonsbery said. "We don't regulate their actions once they're licensed, necessarily. If they break down the door to the wrong house, (state law) doesn't say they are responsible to replace that door."

Washington requires bounty hunters to receive training, but doesn't specify what most of it should entail or establish a certification process for trainers. And the state doesn't endorse trainers who teach bounty hunter skills.

Most other states that have licensing requirements, such as Virginia, also regulate the trainers of aspiring bounty hunters, said Mel Barth, executive director of the National Association of Bail Enforcement Agents.

Barth said he was surprised that Washington doesn't do so. "That's a little crazy, to be honest with you," he said. "I don't approve of that."

Prior to 2004, anyone could call themselves a bounty hunter and go after fugitives. The legislation that was passed that year helped bring bounty hunters under state control. It was only a start. It's time for the Legislature to set standards of acceptable behavior for bonding companies and to put licensing requirements for trainers in place.

Yo Quiero In!

In his upstart race against two-term District 1 incumbent Angel Gonzalez, Mike Suarez is definitely the underdog. He's got less money, fewer connections, and — judging from a stroll through the heart of Allapattah — a far smaller quantity of signage than his opponent. Gonzalez's smiling, stately (if somewhat vampiric) face dominates the neighborhood's restaurants, shops, and vacant lots.

Still, Suarez has at least one key constituency behind him that Gonzalez is unlikely to claim: bail bondsmen. At least two bondsmen's offices near the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Allapattah are sporting Suarez campaign signs; not one is for Gonzalez. It's not difficult to guess why; Suarez is himself a bondsman. He posts bond for recent arrestees — at Ace Bonding on 14th Street, in front of which a Suarez sign has been staked into the ground. A competitor, Dade County Bail Bonds, is also plugging the candidate: A campaign sign is posted proudly in the driveway, right in front of the company's "Bail Bus," which bears a painted cartoon of a jailed Chihuahua holding a sign that reads "Yo Quiero Out!"

Even the bondsmen who have chosen not to advertise Suarez's campaign favor him. "Oh yeah, I like him," says Martha Lopez, the owner of Lady Bond Bail Bonds. Christian Castillo of Castillo Bail Bonds also opted against hosting signs, but says Suarez is indeed his profession's candidate of choice. "Yeah, a lot of bondsmen have stickers," he says. "You know, he used to work here for a while. He's a good guy — I think he'd be good. You ever heard of Bounty Girls Miami? Now that's a story you should do."

Late Night Standoff In Orange County

The man accused of holding Orange County deputies at bay for hours in a standoff is expected to appear before a judge Monday.

Donny Hinds, 28, barricaded himself inside his home on Baronette Drive after shooting at five bail bondsmen that showed up at his house to take him into custody. Deputies were then called in.

Hinds eventually surrendered after the SWAT team used tear gas and stormed the home. He was wanted on fleeing and eluding, in addition to cocaine possession charges.

Man Indicted With Impersonating Bail Agent

Julian B. Stevens III, 41, of 489 Hayes Cemetery Road or 847 Marshall Ridge Road, both in Greensburg, was indicted on a charge of impersonating a peace officer.

According to Stevens' arrest citation, Campbellsville Police received a complaint that a person was being threatened at a home on Taylor Boulevard. After police arrived, the citation states, Stevens told police that a friend had been threatened by another person.

The citation states Stevens produced a badge and a pair of handcuffs and told the person he was a bail agent and would take that person into custody. Two badges and handcuffs were found in Stevens' possession, according to court records.

Bond was set at 10 percent of $20,000. If convicted, Stevens could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison.

Bounty Hunter Challenges Merimon Suspect to Lie Detector Test

The suspect in the disappearance of Peggy Merimon is now being called upon to take a lie detector test.

"I'm offering to foot the expenses of whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the truth and find out where Peggy Merimon is," said Gary Pringle, a bounty hunter heading up the search for Peggy Merimon.

Pringle issued that challenge Tuesday morning at the Lubbock County Courthouse. After searching for more than a year, he says it's time to bring Peggy home. Pringle says he'll pay for a polygraph, or anything else, that is needed to find Peggy.

"I've been advised that I'm wasting my time," Pringle says. "Everybody tells me that I should not be doing this, but I have observed what this had done to the family of Peggy Merimon. I have observed what this has done to Gearl, and to put it bluntly, I'm tired of it."

Merimon disappeared August 9, 2006 from the Lubbock State School, along with co-worker Kay Harrelson. Searchers found Harrelson's body near Shallowater days later, but Merimon is still missing.

A suspect in this case was recently terminated from the Lubbock State School, after spending more than a year on paid administrative leave.

If you know anything about the whereabouts of Peggy Merimon, give Crime Line a call at (806) 741-1000.

Another search will be held this Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m., and volunteers are needed.
If you can help, meet Pringle and his team at the Valero Fast Stop, at the corner of Clovis and Frankford.

Court Upholds Bondsmen's Right to Solicit Business

With phone in hand and dialing finger at the ready, bail bondsman Carl Pruett turned out to be a faster gun than the uniformed folks in reaching people with outstanding arrest warrants.

That got him in trouble not only with the law, but with his fellow bondsmen. Drumming up business by calling alleged criminals before they were picked up put the lives of officers in danger and gave the bad guys a reason to flee. And someone on the lam who is already carrying a bond could cost some other bondsman dearly.

Six years ago, the Harris County Bail Bond Board, which regulates the bond industry, told Pruett to stop calling. Officials said he was breaking a local rule that banned certain solicitations. And they threatened to suspend his license to do business.

Pruett fought back with a lawsuit against the board and Harris County and recently, after a protracted legal fight, a federal appeals court ruled he and fellow bondsman Scott Martin had a First Amendment right to consult public records, then solicit business by phone.

Calling times restrictedThe 5th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that state-imposed restrictions on "commercial speech" were unconstitutional, but agreed with the state law restricting solicitation calls between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.

Essentially, Pruett and Martin used public records to troll for people with outstanding warrants, and then called them to offer their services.

Constable offices, the county and other municipalities use those same records to mail thousands of letters every month to people with open warrants for bad checks, unreturned DVD rentals, unresolved traffic violations and other nonviolent criminal cases.

The 5th Circuit ruled that Pruett and Martin had the same rights to contact those people.
"The statute does not prevent attorneys, law enforcement officials or anyone else from alerting someone that he's the subject of an open warrant," the court said. "Harris County cannot give such notice itself and then claim that restricting notice by others is necessary to the safety of its officers and the public and the prevention of flight."

County Attorney Mike Stafford said the county didn't create or enforce the state law, but intervened to prevent bondsmen from "tipping off" alleged criminals. He said protecting officers from possible violence is a legitimate objection and the county will likely appeal the latest decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

David Furlow, who represents Pruett and Martin in the federal lawsuit, hailed the decision as a "vindication of First Amendment rights." But he said perhaps more importantly, the courts action sent a loud message to fellow bondsmen who saw Pruett and Martin as unscrupulous competitors.

"The largest bail bonding companies with large investments in Yellow Pages ads and large existing bases of criminal defendant clients, they wanted to restrict those and keep other bail bondsmen from contacting them," Furlow said.

Rules adopted in 2001Bail bond boards were created to provide local oversight of the bail bond industry. Members of those boards include the county sheriff, judges, court clerks — or their designees — and someone who issues bail bonds.

In 2001, the Harris County bond board adopted local rules to regulate bail-bond solicitation. The state enacted a similar law the same year, and charged the local board with enforcing it.
Both measures prohibit unsolicited contacts by bondsmen who don't have a prior relationship with an individual. They also ban solicitations by phone or in person within 24 hours of an arrest, and between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m. Monday through Saturday.

The Professional Bondsmen of Texas went to the Legislature about a state law to help people whose "phone was literally ringing and ringing and ringing all night long," said Tillmin Welch, the group's legislative committee chairman.

Harris County has 76 licensed bail bonding companies.

Pruett, who is also a lawyer, and other bondsmen consulted public records in the Harris County Justice Information Management System, or JIMS, to find the names and addresses of people who are the subjects of arrest warrants. The county waits 48 hours to post information about outstanding warrants to allow officers to serve the alleged offenders, but several bondsmen said that they have colleagues who are accessing the information sooner.

Houston bondsman Glenn Strickland, who represents bondsmen on the bail bond board, said the practice amounted to nothing more than "ambulance chasing."

"There are certain people that will want to push the limits," he said. "Is the competition that fierce where you have to go do that?"

But Welch, who has been an Edinburg bondsman for three decades, said part of the law penalizes industrious businessmen.

"(These bondsmen) were in fact doing nothing more than the sheriff's office and some of the municipal courts were doing — only they were doing it faster."

Bond Set in Pickax Assault

Bond was set at $10,000 Wednesday for a Ballantine man accused of assaulting a bail bondsman with a pickax.

Peter Francis Dolan, 54, appeared in Justice Court by video from the county jail on a felony charge of assault with a weapon. Judge Larry Herman ordered Dolan to appear Friday for arraignment in District Court.

According to court records, Dolan was arrested Tuesday when Yellowstone County deputies responded to a disturbance at a residence in Ballantine. When they arrived, a man who identified himself as a bail bondsman said he was at the residence looking to arrest a man who had violated a bond agreement.

The bondsman said he approached Dolan and asked if he knew where to find his client. The bondsman said Dolan grabbed a pickax and swung it at him. The bondsman said he took out pepper spray he carries with him and threatened Dolan with the chemical if he did not put down the ax. Dolan put down the ax and the bondsman called law enforcement.

Suspect Surrenders Due to Bail Bondsman

A man suspected of being a member of the Hooded Safe Bandits is under arrest after turning himself in to police Wednesday night.

In an exclusive interview with Fox 31 News, the bail bondsman who arranged the surrender says they were looking for Manual Santistevan on an unrelated case.

He says they got in contact with Santistevan through his family and arranged the surrender.

The bail bondsman says Santistevan wanted witnesses because he was concerned police might hurt him. Santistevan is the third suspect arrested in the so-called Hooded Safe Bandits robberies.

Police earlier arrested his brother, Roman Santistevan, and Ishmael Mosely. The three are believed to be responsible for more than 20 armed robberies at metro area fast food restaurants and stores. Santistevan was also wanted in connection with a high speed chase last week.

The bail bondsman, who does not want his real name used says Santistevan told him that he was not involved in the robberies. And the bail bondsman says Santistevan told him that he sped away from an undercover officer because he did not realize it was the police.

According to search warrant documents, Mosley confessed to at least some of the robberies.

The arrest warrants in the Santistevan cases are sealed, but police say they have solid reasons to believe that both Santistevan brothers are involved.