Keep Bailing

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 »

An Orange County bail bondsman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of conducting illegal business activities by a proposed referrals to attorneys and soliciting business via postcards to inmates. Under California Law, bail bondsmen are prohibited from referring clients to attorneys as well as soliciting bail bond clients. Potential clients must contact the bondsman requesting service.

The defendant, Ronald Lee Brockway is being charged with two felonies for violating regulations of bail licensing. Brockway, if convicted, will lose his bail license and serve time in a state prison for a maximum sentence of three years and eight months.

According to a news release, Brockman Read more »

Scenario: you get a call from a friend, loved one, or worse yet, your child. “Hi, I’m in jail and I’d like to be bailed out.” What do you do? The most frequent first step is searching the Internet for an ethical or trustworthy bail bonds company. But what exactly qualifies “trustworthy” or “ethical“?

Here are four ways to know if the bail bonds companies you are filtering through might be considered unethical or untrustworthy.

1. Undercutting Bail Premiums AKA Illegal Discounts: You’ve narrowed your search for a bondsman online. So you start calling to interview to see which one fits best . The first one you call sounds okay, but when you get to the point of discussing premium (the fee for the bond), they start mentioning discounts that no other bondsman will give you. Suggestion? Tell them, “Thank you for your time, I will get back to you.” Why are you hanging up on this bail bonds company? One word: “discount.” In most states, Read more »