Tweeker Seeker» Industry News

Do you have a warrant in Santa Clara County?

me — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 07:27:27 +0000

Well if you do and it’s for a non-violent, misdemeanor crime then December is your lucky month. Santa Clara County is running and amnesty program this month that will allow you to stay out of jail. I used the program last year to convince a few fugitives to themselves in. All you have to do is get down to the Sheriff’s office on Younger Ave in San Jose and they will take your finger prints and issue you a new court date. The process normally takes about an hour depending on how busy they are. Under normal circumstances, if your warrant is over $5,000.00, the Police will take you to jail and you will either have to post bond or wait and see a Judge. Under this program it does not matter how big your warrant is as long as it’s not for a felony or for any type of violent crime (assault, domestic violence, etc.)

Here is a link to the press release if you want more information.

Bail bondsmen make it cheaper to get out of jail

me — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 18:54:34 +0000

There’s an interesting article that appeared in the Associated Press today about bail companies that allow criminals to make payments on their bail premium or the fee they pay when they are bailed out of jail. The article talks about the increase in bail-credit because of the slowing economy and brings up several good points about the risks associated with financing the bail premium. However the article failed to mention that a number of counties in California have increased the number of criminals who are being released on their own recognizance (O.R.). Santa Clara County, for one, has recently increased the number and types of criminals who are released under their ORP and SORP programs. Santa Clara County has also initiated an amnesty program for persons with non-violent, misdemeanor bench warrants. If you get arrested before the end of the year on a qualifying warrant, you are cited and released without having to post bond.

The definitions below were taken directly from Santa Clara County’s website:

ORP
ORP stands for “Own Recognizance Release Program.” Defendants who are granted an Own Recognizance Release are required to make all scheduled court appearances and to not violate any laws.

SORP
SORP stands for “Supervised Own Recognizance Release Program.” Defendants who are granted a Supervised Own Recognizance Release have been granted a release that is based upon the defendant’s agreement to abide by specific conditions set by the Court. Examples of conditions that might be imposed are; drug treatment and drug testing; psychological counseling; “no contact” orders; domestic violence counseling; and frequent reporting to the Office of Pretrial Services.

There are two factors that need to be considered here. First, when a jail O.R’s a criminal and he fails to appear in court the only agency who cares about this is the agency who gets the warrant for the criminal’s arrest. This may be the original agency that arrested the criminal or the local Sheriff’s office. I can tell you from experience that when a department gets a bench warrant they may visit the criminal’s house once – this is called “due diligence”. I can also tell you that, rarely, will they spend any time hunting for the criminal as they have no financial interest in getting this guy back to court.

On the other hand, if the criminal is bailed out by a bail company, regardless of how he paid for the premium, the bail company has to get him back to court or risk paying off the bond. So, on a $10,000 bond, the criminal is required to pay a 10% premium or $1,000. If they fail to appear in court the bail company is required to pay $10,000 to the court or return the criminal back to jail. This is why bail companies hire bounty hunters; bounty hunters save the bail companies money.

There is an obvious advantage to society to force criminals to use bail companies and NOT an OR program. The writer for the Associated Press should have done a bit more homework on the bail system before writing this article. For the record, I’m not a fan of bail-credit but also I’m less a fan of the OR system.

The Associated Press: Bail bondsmen make it cheaper to get out of jail.

Federal agents raid AJ’s Bail Bonds

me — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:59:17 +0000

Federal investigators served out a search warrant at AJ’s Bail Bonds in Modesto as part of an ongoing investigation into the business and its owner, Aleo John Pontillo. Apparently no was arrested and the feds arn’t saying too much about the case. According to local bondsman, AJ’s has been linked to drugs, firearms, kidnappings, extortion and money laundering. We’ll just have to see how this plays out.

Federal agents raid local bail bonds company

Bakersfield Bondsman Busted – Douche Bag Alert!

me — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:26:48 +0000

It appears that Cruz Bail Bonds has figured out or to obtain property and cash the old fashioned way – by stealing it from their customers. 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 is set to face extortion and false imprisonment 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. Several of Cruz’s family members and co-workers also were arrested in the case, and face multiple felony charges.

Further reading can be found Here, Here, and Here