Bondsman Accused of Fraud

A Bakersfield man says he was held at gunpoint by a bail bondsman and the bondsman's bounty hunters in a plan to extort money.

Brian Walker is the first of six people named in a California Department of Insurance investigation into Joaquin Cruz and his former bail bond company.

Cruz was due in court Tuesday to face extortion and false imprisonment charges. He declined an interview from Lerdo Jail.

"Those bounty hunters had guns on them, and they put you in their car driving you around, telling you to give them money," Walker said.

Walker said it wasn't until after his release from jail that his nightmare began. "I was scared to death, I had never been through nothing like that before," Walker said.

Walker's sister-in-law, Candie Hughes, put up the initial $10,000 to bail him out of jail. But, she said, days later she and her brother-in-law found themselves in the middle of an extortion plot. "They told us we're not leaving their side until they get a thousand dollars or my truck," Hughes said.

Walker and Hughes said Cruz and several of his family members kidnapped them. They say the bondsmen forced them to produce a thousand dollars in cash, or Walker would be re-arrested. "They were showing up harassing me at every court hearing I had, threatening they were going to take me to jail," Walker said. "They said they wanted more money, but I didn't owe them more money."

Officers arrested Cruz last week on two misdemeanor and 13 felony charges.

The Department of Insurance regulates bondsmen and has been investigating Cruz since at least 2006. A call from one customer turned up complaints from five others, who said Cruz demanded more money from them after freeing them on bail.

"I'm glad they got caught, because now I know we were not the only ones who went through it," Walker said. "They put a lot of people through the same stuff."

Several of Cruz's family members and co-workers also were arrested in the case, and face multiple felony charges.

Fake Bounty Hunters Claim to Have Been Duped

Three of the wannabe bounty hunters who allegedly stormed a home for the elderly looking for a fugitive said on Friday that they had been duped by the ringleaders of their outfit.

The five-person fugitive recovery agency, Wargod Inc., operated illegally — without certification by a court system or being employed by a bail bondsman — according to police.

Professional bondsmen, who post bail for defendants, must obtain their licenses from the state Insurance Department and register with their local district attorney. They also must maintain a phone number and operate an office in each county in which they work, according to Insurance Department regulations.

Wargod's alleged leaders, Lawrence Colon, 39, and Kelly Hefferon, 40, whose home on Route 715 in Jackson Township was the outfit's base of operations, purportedly convinced the rest of their team members — and one of their parents — that the firm was legitimate.

"They even told me they had all those papers from the court and the state," Lucienne Normil, mother of Wargod member Darryl Normil, 21, said Friday outside District Judge Debby York's office.

"Those three are innocent," she said, referring to her son and to Anthony Laino and James Farrell, both 35.

Normil waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He faces charges that he impersonated a public servant, which is a misdemeanor, and summary charges for improperly using emergency lights and signals on his Ford Focus. His bail was reduced from $100,000 to $10,000.

He also stands accused of a felony charge for possessing a firearm. Already convicted of a felony, he is barred from having weapons.

Normil had previously been sentenced to a year's probation for theft and receiving stolen property. About six months later, he pleaded guilty to using another person's credit card without authorization.

Wargod initially attracted police attention after Hefferon's neighbors complained repeatedly about shots being fired in her back yard and sirens sounding until after midnight.

Police: NY Man Tries Bogus Bill for Bail

Police say it was no surprise a bogus $50 bill got a Long Island man arrested: He was trying to use it to pay his bail on a traffic charge.

The transaction compounded Cyheam Forney's legal problems and landed him in jail.