Surprise! – now he is allegedly in trouble once more.  The Hacienda Heights area ex-cop-turned-bail-bondsman has plead not guilty to charges that he illegally solicited bail from inmates in local jails.  County District Attorney’s officials have accused Lee of no less than six felony counts.  The incidents that led to his arrest supposedly took place at the Van Nuys jail on or about July 27, 2008 and Feb. 10, 2009.

Ironically, Lee does not have to be bailed out of jail himself (good thing, because if he called around and bondsmen knew the charge, he might have a hard time getting out).  He has been released on his own recognizance and is due in Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 23 for a preliminary hearing, DA’s spokeswoman Shiara D vila-Morales confirmed.

“In essence, the defendant is accused of going to the Van Nuys jail and soliciting Korean-speaking arrestees to post their bail,” D vila-Morales elaborated. Edwin Lee has a current bail bond license, speaks fluent Korean and operates his business out of Koreatown, according to the article. It seems to me that the Department of Insurance ought to have that suspended by now.

The charges against the former LAPD police officer include two counts each of approaching prisoners to solicit bail, approaching prisoners to solicit bail inside a jail facility and failing to keep records of these solicitations.

Bail bond agents are legally forbidden to approach people to solicit bail. They can only do so if they have been contacted by the arrestee, a family member, friend or other interested party, first. It is also a separate felony to solicit bail in a jail facility, but since no records were kept of the alleged solicitations, Edwin Lee was not charged for this. 

Simply put, in the bail industry, a client must contact a bail agent. It is illegal for a bondsman to call and offer unrequested services. Calling a family member is perfectly legal if the defendant contacts the bail bondsman first and asks the bondsman to do so. 

If convicted, Lee could end up with a prison sentence that is about three years and eight months long. The case is now being investigated by the DA’s Justice System Integrity Division. (Good - get these unethical bondsmen out of our industry!)

Besides the fact that he’s been operating as a bondsman without a license, this “bogus bail bondsman” is allegedly a criminal himself; having previously been charged with numerous felonies which include, altering or falsifying government documents.  (A bail bondsman in California must be licensed by the California Department of Insurance. Additionally, convicted felons are not eligible to be bail bondsmen.)

Malone perpetrated this right in the jail, directly under the watch of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department. With regards to allowing Malone to advertise along side other bail bondsmen inside the jail, Sacramento Sheriff’s Captain Scott Jones stated, “Well, I think we were unwitting participants in it… I think if we’re getting paid and we’re providing a paid service, then we assume some of the duty for that.”  He also allegedly stated that the department doesn’t make a dime off of the ads. Captain Jones was in command during the time Malone’s ads were posted.

We have warned the public about the bail scams in the past. Fortunately, this guy is finally out of business. But according to court documents, several unfortunate prior clients turned victims, have lost out on thousands of dollars.

It seems there are inmates behind bars in Orange County, aptly called “shot callers.” These people are known associates of criminal gangs who are allegedly allowed by OC jail guards to run certain areas of the jail. They believed by some to be running an elaborate bail bonds scheme. 

Reportedly, these “shot callers,” tell defendants to go see certain ‘preferred’ bail bondsman for their bond. Once these defendants have been bailed out, the “shot callers” are in-turn, given ‘kickbacks;’ a percentage of the bail money from certain dishonest bail bondsmen.

However, there are three Orange County bail agencies who are not taking this illegal practice lightly. Don Mehr, Bob Drake and Robert Miller have filed a a$100 million dollar federal racketeering lawsuit against appointed Orange County’s Sheriff  Sandra Hutchens and the County of Orange. “The jails are being run by criminal gangs… They are financing criminal gang activity in the jails. It’s amazing,” stated the attorney for the  three bondsmen.

This intricate bail scheme is also known as “capping,” which came to the forefront during former Sheriff Mike Carona’s administration. Seems, that he too was convicted in Federal court for witness tampering.

Under violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, (RICO) the three bail bondsmen are suing for damages which represent any past, present or future losses. There is also a caveat in the Federal racketeering statues which allow damages to be raised as much at $300 million.  These serious allegations and high dollar amounts should make the Orange County District Attorney’s office stand up and pay close attention.