Keep Bailing

We try to avoid the LiLo stories, but every now and again, we have to cover it. So, you probably already know that yesterday Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner sentenced Lindsay Lohan to 300 days in the Los Angeles County women’s  jail for violating the terms of her probation, but will require only 30 days if she meets immediate requirements of the judge..

The judge said full sentence, which she described as “putting the keys in the defendant’s hands“, requires Lohan serve just 30 days with the remaining time being temporarily stayed.  If Lohan completes a mandated 12-days of community service at the county morgue and four sessions with a psychotherapist before her next scheduled court hearing in December, the stay will extend through mid-January.

Lohan is scheduled to Read more »

The owner of a Modesto Bail Bonds business, Aleo John Pontillo of AJ’s Bail Bonds, was arrested and charged with suspicion of grand theft, insurance fraud and criminal conspiracy. Mr. Pontillo has a bail set at $2 million dollars.

Also arrested for suspicion of conspiracy to commit grand theft and perjury was Mark David Davis and Janelle Marie Llorens. Llorens was also charged with insurance fraud. It is not clear whether Davis and Llorens were employed by AJ’s Bail Bonds or what their connection might be to Pontillo. In 2008, AJ’s Bail Bond business was the concentration of a federal investigation.

Sergeant Anthony Bejaran, the Stanislaus County Jail sheriff’s spokesman, said Pontillo, Davis and Llorens were arrested without incident and being detained at the Stanislaus County Jail.

The arrests were sparked by a California Department of Insurance (DOI) investigation. The bail industry in California is regulated by the DOI. Dave Althausen, spokesman for the Department, said they couldn’t release any details yet, as they were “still coming in from agents in the field.”

The bail set for Davis was $500,000, and Llorens had a bail of $1 million.

FBI agents and gang task force members served a federal warrant and conducted a search at AJ’s Bail Bonds on December 23, 2008. They also searched the home of Pontillo for paperwork and files. There were no arrests made during this search.

The Central Valley Gang Impact Task Force Read more »

What does it take to get a DUI? Well, take your precautions this weekend and each time you drive. Additionally, the Daily News has published Sobriety (“DUI”) checkpoints for the Los Angeles Police Department for Labor Day Weekend:

Friday, September 2, 2011 Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

- Venice Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Wilshire Area
- Topanga Boulevard and Califa Street in Topanga Area

Saturday, September 3, 2011 – Sobriety Checkpoint from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

• Venice Read more »

With the upcoming release of Johannes Mehserle on Monday from an LA County Jail, Mayor Jean Quan is confident that the city is fully prepared to handle any protests that will follow.

 Johannes Mehserle, a former BART police officer, was sentenced to two years after he shot and killed Oscar Grant, an unarmed train passenger, in 2009. A judge ordered that Mehserle be released from jail on Monday after serving less than half of his two-year sentence for involuntary manslaughter.

Quan said in a written statement: “Although we expect Read more »

101 in San Joaquin; 30 More in Tracy

One of the most notorious gangs in Northern California has been struck a hefty blow after Operation Red Zone agents arrested over 100 suspected members during a raid of over 50 properties on Wednesday and 30 more in Tracy yesterday.

The gang known as Nuestra Familia has ties with state’s prisoners and Mexican drug cartels. The gang is often controlled from within the California prison system, which houses an estimated 2,000 formal members. Tens of thousands of street-level Norteno gang members are directed by leaders in prison through smuggled cell phones and messengers, taking part in activities ranging from drug trafficking to violent crimes.

Nuestra Familia (“our family”) has been called “one of the most vicious and lethal gangs in our state,” by Attorney General Kamala Harris during an interview with The Associated Press.

This immense crackdown was conducted by Read more »

Cynthia Cheryl Shirey of Brea was charged with multiple felony counts on Friday, including violating bail license regulations by allowing an unlicensed individual to solicit and negotiate bail bonds on her behalf.

A total of eight co-defendants were charged with 148 counts. Six of those defendants were inmates at the time the alleged scheme occurred, in custody for other crimes they had committed.

Shirey is a licensed bail bond agent with Plotkin Bail Bonds located in Santa Ana. Reportedly, she worked there with Ernesto Perez, who is not a licensed bail bondsman. According to the Orange County District Attorney, Shirey and Perez worked together soliciting inmates in jail through other inmates.

If found guilty on all charges, Shirey will be looking at a maximum sentence of 23 years in state prison. She was being held on a $20,000 bail, which she was expected to post on Friday afternoon.

Each of the eight defendants were connected to this scheme while the Orange County Sheriff’s Department conducted an 18-month investigation.

“The illegal soliciting of inmates by unscrupulous bail bond agents will not be tolerated in our facilities,” said Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

During the time period from August 5, 2010 to March 15, Perez is believed to have plotted with the six incarcerated defendants at the Orange County Jail to solicit other inmates and have them contact him to post their bail.

According to prosecutors, the plan worked like this: Perez worked Read more »

An accused police impersonator has been taken into custody by the Chula Vista Police Department. He had reportedly been conducting traffic stops and has been found to have a long criminal history, according to police. According to NBC San Diego, Kevin Kenniston, a Chula Vista resident, was arrested Monday morning at 8:10 a.m. while appearing at an unrelated hearing in the South County Superior Court.

It is alleged that Kenniston drove a Ford Crown Victoria, painted black and white and equipped with a siren and emergency lights, and conducted a traffic stop on February 23 around 2 p.m. near East Orange Avenue and Max Road.

“Kenniston confronted the female about ‘running a red light and almost running into him.’ Kenniston drove off when a CVPD uniformed patrol unit pulled into the area,” said Capt. Gary Ficacci.

The driver believed that Kenniston was a real police officer.

Another incident occurred on March 9 at 9 am, when Kenniston allegedly took his girlfriend’s daughter to school at an elementary school in Chula Vista while driving the same Crown Victoria.

“He used his emergency lights and PA system to confront another female who was parked near an alleged red/yellow zone,” said Capt. Ficacci. “When the female ignored him, he blocked her car and demanded her license, registration, and insurance.”

The woman believed Kenniston was an off-duty police officer and handed the documents over to him.

It is alleged that Kenniston Read more »

Prosecutors are charging a man who has been acting as a bail bondman without a license for soliciting inmates at the Orange County Jail.

On Thursday, Ernesto Perez, 36, of Burbank, reportedly pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges of identity theft and 21 felony charges of negotiating bail without a proper license. If Perez is convicted, he will face a maximum sentence of 27 years in a state prison. His bail has been set at $150,000.

California Law strictly prohibits any bail negotiations unless Read more »

It’s reported that San Diego Chargers wide receiver, Legedu Naanee, was arrested Saturday for resisting arrest and public intoxication in Indianapolis.  Around 3:20 a.m., Naanee was reported to have come across a live crime scene and, when asked, he had refused to leave.

According to San Diego Police officers, they arrested Naanee because they could smell a “strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on or about his breath or person.” After several attempts to get Naanee to take another route, officers attempted to arrest him and Naanee resisted. Police proceeded by using pepper Read more »

A Van Nuys bail bonds agent, Stephanie Diane Johnson, has been charged with a felony of grand theft for embezzlement.

On February 3^rd, Johnson was taken into arrested by the California Department of Insurance and taken to the Lynwood Jail, Los Angeles County’s women’s jail.  If convicted, is facing a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Apparently, Ms. Johnson was allowed to post bail and was released. Johnson’s arraignment is scheduled for March 4th at the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

State Insurance Commissioner, Dave Jones said, “A bail bond agent who steals Read more »