Bail Blotter: Prison Realignment Hurting Bondsmen Business
- June 16, 2012
- by AboutBail Staff
- In the News
Each week AboutBail combs the web for the latest and most interesting industry news stories to bring you the Weekly Bail Blotter.
Prison Realignment Hurting Bondsmen Business
SAN LUIS, CA – The new prison realignment law in California is hurting bail businesses, according to state bondsmen. The law, AB 109, sends more offenders to county jails rather than prisons. Those in jail are being charged with more serious crimes and there are more felony arrests being made. Since the county jail has less room for misdemeanor cases, Califormia bondsmen get less misdemeanor bail bond business. Some bondsmen are reporting that business is the slowest it has been in decades. Others report that business has been cut back in half as a result of the law.
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Bondsman Pleads Guilty
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Former Louisiana bondsman Willie Irons has pled guilty to conspiracy charges. The charges stem from allegations that Irons paid an Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office worker to forge and manipulate court records so that criminal defendants could be released. Irons admitted that during the illegal activity he was not even licensed as a bondsman. Irons faces fines of up to $250 000 as well as five years in prison.
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Bail Company Donating Calling Cards to Deployed Troops
SAN DIEGO, CA – Bail Hotline Bail Bonds is donating calling cards through a non-profit group, For The Troops. The calling cards are being donated by the Riverside California bail bonds agency so that deployed members of the military can call home this Father's Day. The calling card idea came about after employees at Bail Hotline Bail Bonds found out that roaming fees from Afghanistan can be $3.99 per minute for members of the military who want to phone home to the US.
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Bill To Cut Pretrial Release Programs
Raleigh, NC — A bill that would limit access to public pretrial release programs has received criticism from sheriffs and some judges but is still before the General Assembly. It has already passed a House Judiciary subcommittee. North Carolina bondsmen support the bill, saying that publicly-funded pretrial release programs use up taxpayer dollars, do not adequately keep track of defendants, and hurt bondsmen’s business. After the General Assembly, the bill will head to the full House.
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Bill Signed to Allow Phone-in Bail
NEW ORLEANS, LA – Governor Bobby Jindal has signed a bill which will allow judges in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court the authority to set their own standards for phone-in bond orders and releases. The bill was controversial after District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro last year got Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman to stop allowing phone-in bond orders. A state law requires any orders that fix bail to be in writing, but at least 23 parishes in the state permit phone-in bond orders.
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Former Track Coach Skips Bail
DENVER, CO – Former track coach Oscar Ponce, facing allegations of sexual assault, cannot be found by Denver police after allegedly skipping bail. Ponce used to coach high school and is somewhat of a local celebrity. Although there have been many sightings of him, his Denver Colorado bondsman and the police have not been able to find him. Ponce has been accused of having inappropriate relationships with some of the underage athletes he has coached. All County Bail Bonds posted Ponce’s bail but bondsmen with the company believe that the former coach will be hard to track down because he may have returned to his native country, Mexico.
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