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 had sent a multitude of emails to various attorneys asking them to take part in his illegal referral scheme. Prosecutors said that Brockman’s emails asked for attorneys to refer his Respect Bail Bond Company to clients, while he in turn would refer his clients to them, which would “increase both of our earnings substantially.” A California bondsman cannot refer to an attorney.

Further, Brockman is accused of conducting business with inmates using flyers mailed to inmates at the Orange County jail with his name, company and contact information, and also the statement “Get out of jail today by calling now!”

Interestingly back in October of 2005, Brockman testified against attorney Joseph Cavallo in a trial conducted under an Orange County Grand Jury hearing that stated he had received payments from Cavallo for referring accused defendants to Cavallo’s attorney office. According to prosecutors, Brockman was not charged for this because his testimony was used in prosecuting other defendants. Attorney Joseph Cavallo, however, was convicted after pleading guilty in October of 2007 with part help from Brockman’s testimony.

The DA’s Bureau of Investigation began the investigation on Brockman after the OC District Attorney received a phone call from a private attorney reporting the delivery of an email detailing Brockman’s illegal bail scheme.

Brockman’s bail is set at $50,000 upon waiting for his arraignment. Seems that Brockman has no Respect for the bail bonds industry.

Calling on one, Matthew Van McDaniel. This young man from Los Alamitos actually did such a thing. On January 10th, he lost control and crashed his S550 directly through the gates of the James Musick Correctional Facility in Irvine. When a deputy there tried to restrain him, he actually punched the man breaking his nose.

Jim Armormino, a Sheriff’s spokesperson claimed it was “the first time somebody tried to break into the jail.”

Now, Mr. McDaniel is having to pay a big price for his mistakes. He pleaded guilty to his charges and has received 9 years in a state prison.  The Orange County D.A.’s office stated that his charges are for driving recklessly while DUI and assaulting a peace officer.

He was also charged for being an ex-convict and entering the grounds of a correctional facility. Seems he had a prior arrest 2003 for assault with a deadly weapon.

McDaniel’s attorney, Anthony Zinnati worked out a plea deal for his client, claiming “my client realizes he has had some issues he needs to address… he looks forward to a period of self-reflection.”

Seems Matthew Van McDaniel will have just about 9 years of time to reflect.

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 problems and incidents as well. (See Orange County Jail Bail Scams, Bondsmen Sue Orange County Jail, Theo Lacy Jail Guards Accused as reference.) Between 2004 and 2007 there were over 400 reports where jail staff used tasers on inmates.

Sheriff Hutchens was responsible for reviewing the “use-of-force” policy and brought it up to industry standards.  Board said the “use-of-force” training programs have been updated as well.  The department’s sergeants and lieutenants have gone through extensive 16 hour training programs, and that deputies are now in the process.

The Orange County Sheriff has been advised that those changes do not go far enough, and to limit the use of tasers to life or death, or serious injury incidents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The decision to “cite and release” inmates from Orange County jails has led to over 400 criminals being put back onto the streets without having to post bail or provide any further court guarantees. Many of the inmates who are released this way flee. This ‘unsafe practice’ has been put into action and instituted by the court in an effort to relieve jail overcrowding. However, it is said that the overcrowding issue no longer exists, as there are 1,400 open jail beds.

As a function of the criminal justice system, Hunt states that criminal attorneys and bail bondsman have been put in place to keep problems like this at bay. They are ‘private alternatives’ which provide a much needed public service, contribute to the economy and help save tax payer dollars.

When released on bail, the defendant is held responsible to the bail bondsman who keeps tabs on them until they are seen in court.  When released early or cited out, these defendants don’t have an incentive to return to court as no one is keeping bids on them. There are approximately 23,160 felony and 111,690  misdemeanor warrants outstanding without any agency currently being held responsible.

Hunt, who is a candidate for O.C. Sheriff, discounts the decision of Sheriff  Hutchens to possibly lease any open jail beds to the federal government in order to house criminal illegal aliens. He states, “How can anyone argue the interim sheriff’s plan is in the best interest of public safety in this county… It is time to stop bailing out the federal government for their failures on illegal immigration enforcement.” Hunt refers to the closing of the Orange County Women’s jail to “sell” space for federal prisoners.

Should the general public be worried that these newly released criminals may soon be lurking in their neighborhoods? Who should carry the burden of this issue?  What are your thoughts on the subject? Let us know.

Orange County jail officials will join 11 other California county jails such as Los Angeles, San Diego and Ventura which have already implemented procedures for checking the identification of inmates using a federal database to identify immigrants who land in their jails.

A national database, which is maintained by the Department of Homeland Security, houses fingerprints of those who’ve had contact with the department, such as having applied for any immigration benefits. The national program implemented in late 2008 will now be used to identify and deport any undocumented immigrants who’ve been arrested and jailed.

The Secure Communities Initiative has identified 18,000 immigrants who have been charged with offenses such as murder and kidnapping)since its inception. 4,000 of those offenders have since been deported. Additionally, 25,000 immigrants who have been charged with lesser crimes have also been deported.

The Orange County Jail already has one of the longest processing time for defendants. There is no word on how this may effect release times for those posting bail.

The Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, aka “Banning Jail“, upgrades are expected to be finished next month, but until now Sheriff Sniff feared he would not have enough funds to hire these security and administrative personnel, thanks to a former $50 million county deficit.

Now, 45 sworn law enforcement personnel are expected to be hired to work at the prison, along with 49 non-sworn correctional deputies and 48 “classified” employees, including food service workers, clerks and accountants. .

Sniff also doubts that all the money in his new budget will actually be needed and he predicts that the new jail units will be fully operational in one year. The expansion includes 582 inmate beds lodged in three housing units that are 173,000 square feet in size.

Opening these new cells can’t come soon enough, said Supervisors Jeff Stone and John Benoit.  The two are referring to the impending early release of 40,000 convicted felons from state facilities  in compliance with a federal judicial panel’s mandate that California’s prison population be reduced for health reasons.

“We are going to have to house more dangerous criminals that we shouldn’t be responsible for housing in the first place.  We have to make our facilities function as prisons when they’re detention centers,” Stone added, alluding to expected re-offenders.

Sniff agreed, saying that law enforcement officials are preparing for a statewide increase in crime.  Currently, the county has 3,600 inmate beds available, compared to 6,000 in Orange County Jails. Some 3,500 prisoners were already released before the end of their sentences in 2008 because of overcrowding.

Television’s “The O.C.” and “Real Housewives” may have put Orange County California on the media map, but Orange County Police Departments have an interesting history that dates back to the Wild West.  The county can trace its beginnings back to 1887, when silver was discovered in the Santa Ana Mountains, attracting settlers. As people came to California in droves, seeking their fortunes or just to settle and build a new life, the California Legislator was overwhelmed by the influx of these new arrivals. 

And so, they decided to divide Los Angeles County into two back in 1899, creating Orange County as a separate political entity. The county is supposedly named after –what else — oranges, but since they already had a town named Orange here, the county may have been named for this city.  Like many other places in the west, law enforcement was conducted by sheriffs and marshals until the needs of these settlements grew too big for just a few good men to handle.  And so, OC law enforcement also expanded and grew into more sophisticated, full fledged Police Departments.

Orange County also happens to be the smallest county in Southern California. But despite its size, it has many police departments and they, in turn, have a wide variety of resources. Some OC cities run their own independent department while others contract with another city or with the County Sheriff’s Department.  But one thing they all have in common is their dedication to providing great services for their citizens.  They do this by working closely with other local, state, federal law enforcement and community agencies as well as many citizen groups, in a structure model called Community Policing.

Community Policing engages officers with the public by assigning patrol men and women, Detectives and traffic officers to a specific geographic area or “police beat” for a specific length of time.  The advantage here is that it gives these officers the opportunity to become more familiar and emotionally connected to the people that live and work in their area.  A special emphasis is placed on the “Quality of Life” issues that affect each of these communities, like traffic, noise and vandalisms.

Working on, understanding and being able to problem solve area-specific issues has definitely strengthened the officers ties, and this is evidenced by the fact that many police care so much, they have volunteered their off duty time to local youth programs and community groups.  The results have been very positive for all involved.

The Orange County Police Departments incorporates several ethical values into their law enforcement work, too.  Some of these, like courage, duty and commitment are fairly obvious.  But emphasis is also placed on organizational growth and teamwork.

Most OC Police Departments also have several divisions within their ranks.  These include, but are not limited to, K-9 Units, Animal Control Services, 9-1-1 Dispatch/Communications, Crime Prevention, SWAT Teams, Bicycle Units, Traffic, Records, Administrative and Patrol.

Most of these local departments do not have on-site jail facilities so they utilize Orange County’s incarceration facilities: the Central Jail Complex, Theo Lacy Jail and the James A Musick Jail.

The OC Sheriff’s Department, rather than the police, is contracted to handle the jails and even the law enforcement needs of many of their cities.  Regardless, all of the Orange County law enforcement agencies must be doing something right because a lot of cities in Orange County are consistently voted the safest places to live in the entire USA.

Matthew Van McDaniel plowed into the James A. Musick Jail and got out of his car, which he left in gear, still running.  The car then hit a tree on the jail campus.

McDaniel, who makes his living as a dancer, managed to successfully pirouette away from the sergeant he attacked, but other deputies soon arrested him on the spot.

“It’s the first time somebody tried to break into the jail,” Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

Now McDaniel is no longer able to dance around the law.  He is being held on drunk driving, assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and unspecified weapons charges. The jail and the gate were not damaged, but the sergeant he attacked no doubt has a damaged ego.

Sheriff’s officials were hoping to get enough people to sign up for the next class of correctional services assistants, said spokesman John McDonald, but the rate that they got them: “Surprised a lot of us here.” The class, which only has 50 seats, educates civilian employees in how to assist sworn personnel at the jails.

The pay scale for these new jobs ranges from $37,211 a year during training to $56,992 maximum, including county health and pension benefits.  The department wants to train enough civilian workers to eventually make up 35% of their jail staff, which will save the financially beleaguered county about $10 million a year.

This was the first class open to all applicants. The department’s initial class of 23 men and women was drawn from internal candidates who graduated in December. The Sheriff’s Department says it will reopen applications in the near future for the next class.

Here’s how it works:  The inmate connected to the bail bond company offers to make three-way calls for other inmates willing to use their services.  Anyone who isn’t interested is intimidated until he changes his mind.  As reported by the Orange County Register, no less than eight witnesses, all of them arrestees at the jail, recently testified about this illegal practice to both the OC Sheriff’s department and the OC Bail Agents Association.

Each witness was interviewed by private investigator Bill Hunt, a former Sheriff’s Lieutenant currently running for Orange County Sheriff.  Hunt’s subsequent report alleges that some prisoners have bullied others regarding the company they should use for posting their bail.  Hunt also discovered that someone who had access to booking information was passing telephone numbers on to these same bail companies, who then in turn called the prisoners’ family members to pay up.

One woman, Michelle Johnson, said she received this type of call from a friend at the Orange County Jail, in October 2008.  Johnson heard a man in the background pressuring her friend to use a certain bail service.  The friend told her it was an officer.

Johnson paid a 10% premium of $2000 on a $20,000 bail amount to secure her friend’s release.  But a few days later, the same bond company phoned her and said the bail amount was actually $200,000 and that she owed them another $10,000.  Johnson threatened to take it up with the district attorney and the calls stopped.

Arturo Pacheco, an eye-witness who was arrested in August for driving on a suspended license, backed up Johnson’s statement with testimony of his own.  Pacheco claims deputies and jailers were aware of capping but they never stopped it during his incarceration, even though another inmate tied up the phone for this purpose.  Pacheco alleges that this inmate kept offering to hook his fellow arrestees up with two local bail agencies who would cut them deals below the legal 10% fee set up by California’s Department of Insurance.

Several law-abiding  OC bail bond companies contend the county isn’t doing enough to stop this illegal practice. Three of them have filed a federal racketeering lawsuit that accuses the sheriff’s department of allowing gangs and prisoners to illegally solicit customers.

Officials continue to downplay the bail capping scams, but evidence dating back to 2001 gives these charges credibility.  Back then, several bondsmen accused former Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo of seeking their participation in a bail kickback scheme.  Jaramillo, who was in cahoots with a lawyer named Joseph Cavallo, pleaded no contest, but Cavallo was later convicted of paying for referrals from Xtreme Bail Bonds, along with two of that company’s employees.

In a recent statement, OC sheriff’s spokesman, John McDonald, insisted his department is taking the complaints seriously, but they have not been able to find any evidence of illegal solicitation.  Authorities continue to investigate the matter.

Our advice: keep at it. We hear about this and other bail bond scams every day from our clients.