Keep Bailing

Almost all of the large cities in Orange County have seen a steady drop in crime rates during the first half of the year. Some of the cities have even been ranked among the country’s safest cities.

According to a study by the FBI, violent crimes such as rape, murder, assault and robbery saw a large decrease in the cities of Garden Grove, Orange and Santa Ana. This fall in violent crimes reported to the police is in line with the nationwide decrease of 6.4 percent for the first half of 2011.

One publication listed Lake Forest, Irvine and Mission Viejo among the safest cities. Forbes included the city of Santa Ana on its list of the safest communities in the country.

While violent crimes have decreased greatly, property crimes Read more »

Five Orange County jail inmates have been convicted of second-degree murder after being found guilty of beating a fellow inmate to death at the Theo Lacy Jail.

The 2006 beating reportedly occurred because the defendants believed the inmate to be a child molester. Jurors found Garret Eugene Aguilar, Stephen Paul Carlstrom, Jared Louis Petrovich, Miguel Angel Guillen, and Raul Villafana,  guilty of the crime.  They all face 15 years to life.

“A grand jury probe concluded that the beating death grew out of an institutional culture that allowed inmates to run the jails while deputies watched television and slept at times,” wrote OC City News Service reporter Paul Anderson. “[Former OC Sheriff's deputy Kevin Taylor] has been accused of watching ‘Cops’ and text-messaging during the beating, just about 68-feet away from the blind spot at the jail.” Prosecutors issued a scathing report on Read more »

Our California Jails Series Continues… with Orange County’s James Musick Jail

When you think of Orange County Jail perhaps you think of recent headlines about inmate beatings and overcrowding or perhaps you’ve seen explosive television where the OC Sheriff’s Department is working hard to rebuild it’s image only to have the worst happen. In either case, my guess is you don’t think about song and joy.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds continues with the fifth in our series on California jails: Inside Orange County James Musick Jail. Musick, Orange County’s Irvine detention facility, gets “rocked” by “Bobby Cash” (aka Read more »

Last week, 43 teens graduated from the Santa Ana College Criminal Justice Youth Academy, which is operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Fifteen-year old Braeden Weekes said that the program helped him see the importance of police officers and boost the respect he has for them.

“Police officers get a bad rap all the time,” said Weekes. “But I’ve come to realize that all they are trying to do is keep the community safe.”

This is the third graduating class from the six-week program which was held on Saturdays. Students get a chance to tackle obstacle courses, utilize problem-solving skills in hypothetical scenarios, and find out the amount of force that should be used against suspects.

According to the head of the program, Sgt. Dave Dattola, the goal of the program is to teach young people “about ethics, decision-making and consequences.”

A lot of the students in this special program have Read more »

A Santa Ana bail bondsman who was convicted of soliciting to both attorney and jail inmate referrals was sentenced Thursday.

Ronald Lee Brockwayof Seal Beach, has been sentenced to a year in jail, three years of formal probation, and isn’t allowed to perform bail bonds services again for six months, according to prosecutors. Brockway had pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors of violating bail license regulations, which in the beginning were felonies.

According to California Law, it is illegal to ever solicit bail business — from inmates or their families. The law also includes soliciting of or recommending attorneys to bail bond clients, regardless of a money exchange.

Brockway sent numerous e-mails to attorneys suggesting that the attorneys should refer bail bond business to him while in exchange; he would offer his clients to those attorneys, which would “increase both of our earnings substantially.”

Along with trying to solicit to attorney, Brockway also solicited to inmates by mailing mass flyers to the Orange County Jail. The flyers, along with Brockway’s contact information included, “Get out of jail today by calling now!”

Furthermore, in 2005, Brockway testified to an Orange County Grand Jury that he had been receiving cash payments from then attorney, Joseph Cavallo, in exchange for referrals. Brockway was never prosecuted in that case, because his testimony was used to prosecute others.

Cavallo was convicted of engaging in “client capping,” which is paying for clients. Cavallo was sentenced on December 14, 2007 to serve six months in jail.

An anonymous phone call was made to the District Attorney’s office about receiving an odd e-mail; the one is which Brockway asked for attorney referrals, thus spawning the investigation into Brockway.

As honest bondsmen, we’re glad this guy is in jail. I find it appauling, however, that they would ever let him engage in bail services again. Hopefully, the Department of Insurance will get on top of that!

Will Serve 5 ½ Year Jail Sentence

Tuesday morning, former Orange County Sheriff, Michael S. Carona, surrendered himself to authorities located in Littleton, Colorado.

Carona is facing a 5 ½ year sentence due to a 2007 felony charge of corruption dealing with witness tampering while he was serving on the Orange County Sheriff Department. Carona’s trial took place over a two month span back in 2009 in Santa Ana, where prosecutors argued that Carona had been accepting cash payments, participated in illicit sexual affairs and gave badges to campaign contributors as well as allowed them to carry concealed-weapon licenses.

Carona, however, was acquitted from five of the six charges but was still found guilty of encouraging Deputy Don Haidl to lie to the grand jury. Furthermore, both Carona’s wife, Deborah Carona and his mistress, Debra Hoffman, faced similar charges but were dropped after the acquittal of Michael Carona.

Carona had been set free on bail after Read more »

After several months of debate, Orange County jails are now ready to accept suspects of illegal immigration in the United States.

It is said, that by mid-October, Theo Lacy jail facility will house up to 840 immigrant detainees. Upon agreement, Orange County is a necessary place to hold this inmate type in contract with ICE officials.

The Sheriff’s Department made this deal with 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 »

KeepBailing? What does that mean?

We’ve been surprised how many people visit our blog and enjoy the news stories on celebrity and sports star arrests, jail issues, and police crack-downs, but don’t realize that we are a licensed, professional California bail bond company.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds is owned and operated by Greg Rynerson and his wife, Tonya. Greg’s dad, Cal, started a bail bond business in Orange County, California in 1971. When Cal retired, Greg had a career in the insurance industry and the business was sold. Years later, Greg started his own bail company.

Now, we’re a thriving, family owned business. We’re a mom-and-pop company that uses technology and an network of agents throughout the state to serve every jail in California. Often, potential clients assume that we are one of the larger bail companies in the state. In reality, we’re a small bail family that cares about the individuals we work with and goes the extra miles to meet their needs. We hope you enjoy our blog and if you ever need a bail bond, we’ll be here for you.

Matthew Fleuret received a $750,000 settlement from Orange County after allegedly being tasered 11 times at the Orange County Jail.  The incident was caught on video showing him being held to the floor while deputies repeatedly shock him for about 13 minutes.

Since that incident, Assistant Sheriff Tim Board indicated that a lot has changed within the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the manner in which they use force.  This is being attributed to the newly appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens as the motivator reform with the OC Sheriff Department.

Board says Hutchens has already done a lot for the department.  She understands processes of accountability and risk management.  He went on to say that they are a completely different department since the 2006 Fleuret incident.

Orange County has had other Read more »