Bail Discounting Covered by AP

An Associated Press article about bail bond discounting appeared this week in newspapers across the country. The report discussed the economic climate that created the nationwide trend of discounting. The reporter interviewed bail bond agents from several states about the practice of discounting and includes perspectives from the court and law enforcement officials. Here is a link to the entire article as it appeared in the KC Star.

TN-Bondsmen Witness Murder, Takedown Suspect

Nashville, TN-Newschannel 5, of Nashville, reports that three bondsmen who were apprehending a fugitive became witnesses to a murder. According to the report, the men heard gunshots at a nearby market. They ran to the scene and witnessed the murder suspect standing over another man who was shot. The trio chased the shooting suspect to a nearby parking lot and subdued him with a Taser. The bondsmen said they have been in the fugitive apprehension business for years and they saw this as another day on the job.

Cox Featured in Riverfront Times

Bondsman Gerald Cox was featured today in an article posted by the Riverfront Times. The article profiles the alleged actions leading up to the arrest of Cox, his son James Cox, and four other men. Cox has been charged with kidnapping, first-degree burglary, tampering with a motor vehicle and stealing.

Circuit Clerk Mariano Favazza was also interviewed. Favazza removed Cox's company from the list of qualified companies in St. Louis City. The case was reviewed after Cox filed a petition in St. Louis City and the petition was denied. According to the article, an appeal is pending.

Previous Post
Cox Arrest Update
Bondsmen Charged with Kidnapping

Former Bondsman Wanted in Two States

Former Missouri licensed bondsman Thaddeus Bibb is wanted in Texas and Missouri for incidents related to fugitive recovery work.

According to Casenet, Bibb failed to appear last week for bench trial in Jefferson County on charges related to an alleged forced entry into a home in 2007. Bibb has a capias warrant for his arrest. He is charged with two counts of felonious restraint, two counts of armed criminal action, property damage, failing to notify law enforcement of intended apprehension, and 1st degree burglary. According to initial press reports, Bibb and two other licensed agents, Randall Avett and Steve Morgan, and two unlicensed individuals, Rudolph Whiston and Brandon Morgan, allegedly forced entry on a residence in Jefferson County. The occupants of the home called police claiming that the bondsmen had forced entry on the wrong house. Charges against all of the men resulted a few months later. Bibb’s original bond was $47,000.

Bibb also has a warrant for him in Matagorda County, Texas. He and Phil March, of St. Louis, are charged with impersonation of an federal officer related to fugitive recovery work. Bibb and March traveled to Texas in order to apprehend fugitive Edmund Franklin, who had failed to appear on a $500,000 bond through Block Bail Bonds. March and Bibb are accused of posing as federal officers in an effort to apprehend Franklin. Days after the incident, Franklin was arrested by the US Marshals Service on a separate federal warrant and was extradited to Illinois. Both March and Bibb bonded with a Texas bail bond company for $10,000 each. Bibb failed to appear on November 26th in Matagorda County and the warrant resulted. March is scheduled to appear next month.

Bibb originally posted bond on the Missouri charges with Rick Adams. His bond in Texas is a transfer bond transmitted through Safety National Casualty Corporation. The Texas executing agent does not know who ordered the transfer.

Bibb’s bail bond license expired in October 2008. He has not filed a renewal application.

Previous Posts
Bibb Trial Date
Bondsmen Charged in Home Invasion

Retired Bondsman Receives Bronze Star

Retired bondsman Ray Callanan was recently featured in the Farmington Daily Journal when he received a bronze star for his service in World War II. He helped liberate captives in three Nazi concentration camps and one POW camp in Germany and Austria. “When we went in there, there were two trenches where bodies were stacked,” Callanan related. “One fellow saw a man in the piles blink. He took the man, who turned out to be a rabbi, to the hospital, which saved his life. When we went back for a tour in 2005, the rabbi’s daughter accompanied us.”

Callanan retired from the bail bond business a few years ago. He received his bronze star 63 years after his military service.

Link to article:
Callanan received gold star