Jackson Gets 10 Years

Former bail bond agent Virgil Lee Jackson was sentenced to ten years in prison today in US District Court in St. Louis. Jackson pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to commit murder. The intended victim of the conspiracy was a bail bond company competitor, Gerald Cox of Cox Bail Bonds in St. Charles. Cox was not harmed as federal authorities were alerted to the hit before it transpired. Jackson has been in federal custody since his arrest in October 2005 and will get credit for the two years he has served.

The DIFP filed a disciplinary complaint against Jackson nearly two years ago. The hearing has been postponed pending the conclusion of all criminal charges. Now that Jackson has been sentenced, hopefully the hearing scheduled for December 12th can be heard before the Administrative Hearing Commission.

Accused co-conspirator Glen Dotson is scheduled to go to trial early next year.

Recent Press
US Attorney's Press Release
STL Post Dispatch
KC KSHB
STL KSDK
First Capitol News-St. Charles
Examiner.com
Cape Girardeau KFVS

My previous Posts
Lee Jackson held on federal charges 4/1/2006
Dotson Arrested/New Charges for Jackson 6/2/2006
Dotson/Jackson trial postponed 6/8/2006
Arraignment 6/13/2006
Trial postponed again 10/28/2006
Dotson Freed on Bond 11/15/2006
Jackson Accused of Another Murder Plot 11/22/2006
January Trial Date Postponed 1/22/2007
March Date Postponed 3/19/2007
Jackson Pleads Guilty 8/13/2007
Dotson Faces New charges 8/27/2007

CT: Cop and Bondsmen Plead Guilty to Bribery

A FBI investigation into police corruption in Connecticut has resulted in guilty pleas from a police narcotics officer and three bondsmen. The case resulted in extensive press coverage in the Northeast part of the country. Police officer William White pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and theft of government funds. The three bondsmen, Robert, Phil, and Paul Jacobs, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit bribery. The bondsmen admitted to making cash payments to White and other officers in exchange for apprehension of bail bond fugitives and referrals. The bondsmen must repay $750,000 in forfeited funds and the prosecutor has recommended prison time and additional fines.

A link to coverage in the case is found at KFSB here.
Expected impact of Jacobs' bail business to court system.

DIFP Orders License Revocation for L&C

The DIFP has ordered that L&C Investment Corporation’s general bail bond license be revoked. According to the DIFP’s order, a disciplinary hearing was held in October and neither L&C nor its attorney was present. Earlier this year, the Administrative Hearing Commission ruled that L&C was subject to discipline for failing to satisfy a judgment in Buchanan County. The AHC did not find cause to discipline L&C in the complaint regarding the refund of a bail bond premium, when the bail bond did not result in the release of the defendant. In the same ruling, the AHC said that L&C President Doug Cheatham was not subject to discipline.

Previous Coverage:
Appellant Court Rules Against L&C
L&C Appeals to Supreme Court
MO Supreme Court Denies L&C Case
DIFP Files Complaint Against L&C
Press coverage from KMBC-9
AHC Rules Cause to Discipline
L&C Files Lawsuit Against Court and DIFP
L&C Dismisses Lawsuit Against DIFP

DIFP Refused to Renew Bail License

The DIFP has refused to renew John W. Garrett’s bail bond license. Garrett has been licensed since 1997. The department’s order states that Garrett entered a plea of guilty in 1996 to unlawful use of a weapon and received a suspended imposition of sentence after completing one year of probation. According to the order, Garrett did not disclose the SIS on his 2007 renewal application. Garrett has 30 days to ask for a hearing before the Administrative Hearing Commission.

Former Bondsman Gets Extensive Press Coverage

Last March former bondsman Thomas C. McGee made the news in Columbia after The Missourian investigated his bail bond license. The Missourian reported that although McGee was convicted of attempted arson in 2001 and aiding a felon in Kansas, he was able to get his bail bond license in 2004. (McGee had been convicted of pouring gasoline in the hallway of his home where three women lay bedridden.) The DIFP spokesperson criticized the way the department investigator had handled McGee’s case. The Missourian reported that former Investigator Volkmer closed McGee’s file stating, “Due to extreme mental problems at the time of the incident and from the police report, it appears that Mr. McGee was making a cry for help and this incident of arson was also an attempted suicide. There have not been any consumer complaints against Mr. McGee since his original license was issued. I believe this file should be closed with no further action.” His license expired in March 2007, and the DIFP was quoted saying that if he should re-apply, his application would be denied.

Two months later, the Kansas Department of Insurance revoked McGee’s license, citing its authority based on the fact his license had been cancelled in Missouri, he was a convicted felon, and the interests of the public were not served under the license.

A few months later KCTV Channel 5, of Kansas City, reported about McGee in a three part series. KCTV reported that a manhunt for McGee in connection with a robbery in Kansas, then reported that he was captured, and concluded its investigation reporting on McGee’s criminal past and licensing. The station interviewed an official from the Kansas Department of Insurance, who said that Kansas had issued McGee a bail bond license in good faith after Missouri had issued him a license and that the Kansas Department of Insurance was taking a close look at this situation.

McGee worked under the authority of his mother, Cynthia Saulmon. Her license, and the license of her company, Afford Able Bail Bonds, Inc., is currently under disciplinary proceedings before the Administrative Hearing Commission. Her case is scheduled to be heard by the AHC on November 7th.

It is unfortunate for us all that six months of bad press surrounded McGee, shedding a bad light on everyone in this industry, especially since McGee should have never been licensed in the first place.

Bail Bond Tricks and Traps

Here is a great read at the American Chronicle. The article was written for the public to help them learn about reputable bail bond companies and how to identify bail bond scams. While some of the California bail laws discussed are not laws in Missouri, much of the advice is useful to anyone shopping for a bail bond agent.

The article warns the public about discount bond practices, bail solicitation, and how to avoid being scammed by an imposter.

TX Bail Employee Assaulted on the Job

My heart sank as a read the following report on FortBendNow of Richmond, TX:

A female bail bond office employee was sexually assaulted by two men as she manned a bail bond office on the night shift. Two men allegedly entered the bail bond office at 1:30 am and began asking questions about a bond. One of the suspects then pulled out a gun and demanded money. When they learned there was no cash in the office, they then took the woman to a back room and sexually assaulted her. The two suspects have not been caught or identified. The police are appealing to the public for leads in the case.

We all find ourselves working into the wee hours of the night, sometimes alone with people we don’t know. Try to be safe.

Bail PAC Files Report

The Missouri Professional Bail Bond(ing) Association-Political Action Committee has filed its October quarterly report. Again this quarter, a single $1,000 contribution was reported from an unlicensed bail bond corporation managed by general agent Jack Allison.

The committee reported the $1,000 donation from A-Aero Bail Bonds, LLC. According to the Missouri Secretary of State, A-Aero was organized in 2005 by Jack Allison and his agent, Ray Vunovich. A-Aero does not hold a bail bond license in Missouri.

The following received contributions from the PAC:

Representative Steve Hodges D-East Prairie, $100
Representative Tom Dempsey R-St. Charles, Senate campaign, $250
Senator Jason Crowell R-Cape Girardeau, $150
Missouri Legislative Black Caucus-$200

Last quarter, the committee reported another single $1,000 contribution from one of Jack Allison’s unlicensed bail bond companies, American Guarantee Surety, Inc. The Secretary of State’s website shows Virgil Lee Jackson and Allison were both officers until Jackson’s arrest in 2005. Allison currently serves as president. American was incorporated by Virgil Lee Jackson in 2002 with a stated purpose to write surety bonds. Although bonds were written in Missouri, American has never held a bail or insurance license. American still files annual reports in Missouri.

Link to post from July quarterly report.

La. Judges & Bondsman Indicted for Bribery

A Louisiana bondsman and two judges have been indicted in US District Court , Western District of Louisiana, for RICO violations involving 24 counts of public bribery. Named in the indictment is bondsman Larry Neal Williams and Caddo Parish judges Vernon Claville and Michael Walker. The US Attorney alleges that the judges accepted bribes from Williams 24 times over a two month period in order to lower bonds, remove detention holds, and/or set low bonds. Williams owns A-Instant Bail Bonds and is an appointed agent of Allegheny Casualty Company, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

Bondsman Arrested After Shots Fired

General agent David Vinson is currently being held in the Morgan County Jail on charges related to a fugitive recovery incident which occurred last Friday. According to the Lake Sun Leader and the Versailles Leader-Statesman , Vinson shot at a fugitive as he was escaping in a red SUV, shattering the back glass of the vehicle. The reports indicate that the fugitive successfully escaped and his whereabouts were unknown as of Friday. Vinson has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon, tampering, 2nd degree assault, 1st degree assault, and discharge of a weapon at a moving vehicle. Vinson is currently being held on a $50,000 cash only bond.

Vinson, of Camdenton, has been a general agent since August and an agent since 1998. He has two agents working under his authority.

AHC Rules Cause to Discipline in Residency Case

The Administrative Hearing Commission has ruled that there is cause to discipline the bail bond licenses of U&K Investments, Ulis Vickers, and Kristin Vickers. The AHC ruled that the Vickers and their company had committed misrepresentation to the DIFP when they claimed on their licensing applications to be residents of Missouri when they were residents of Kansas. The Vickers have surrendered their Missouri bail bond licenses. The ruling will become final in 30 days and then the DIFP will convene a hearing to determine what discipline to issue them.

Unsatisfied Judgments

The bail bond unsatisfied judgment list is compiled by the DIFP and the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator. The following companies appear on the list published 9/28/2007. The list is distributed to local courts via electronic means.

1) L&C Investment Group, president-Douglas Cheatham of Blue Springs, MO-2 judgments, $101,500
2) A&J Bail Bonding, LLC-no longer licensed company-4 judgments, $4,000

L&C is also listed under pending disciplinary action. The Administrative Hearing Commission ruled that there was cause to discipline L&C. The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for today.

AHC Rules Cause to Discipline L&C

The Administrative Hearing Commission (AHC) has issued a ruling on the disciplinary complaint filed by the DIFP against L&C Investment Corporation and its president, Doug Cheatham. The complaint was filed by the DIFP in May 2005. After several continuances the AHC heard the complaint in January 2007 and issued its opinion in late July, ruling that there was cause to discipline L&C and there was no cause to discipline Cheatham.

The DIFP alleged in its complaint that Cheatham and L&C had committed misappropriation, misconduct, gross negligence, fraud, misrepresentation, or incompetence by not returning a $9,999 bond premium when the bond failed to secure the release of a defendant Antonio Flemons. L&C wrote a $100,000 in Lafayette County in March 2004. Flemons was being held by Missouri Department of Corrections. Three months later the court declared a scrivener’s error and determined that the bond was intended to be cash-only. Flemons was never released from custody. Cheatham testified that he attempted to return some and then the entire premium to the defendant’s family, but an agreement was never reached. The AHC said in its ruling, “The Director produces no evidence or law that the filing of the bond, even if it did not result in the defendant’s release from prison, is not consideration for the bond payment. The Director has failed to meet his burden to prove that the continual retention of the bail payment by respondents is unauthorized or in violation of any contract” and ruled there was no cause to discipline Cheatham or L&C.

The Department also alleged that L&C should be disciplined for failing to satisfy a judgment in Buchanan County in violation of 374.755.1(6) RSMO. L&C posted a $100,000 bond for defendant Mark Wilson. Wilson pleaded guilty but failed to show up for commitment to DOC 30 days later. L&C appealed the bond forfeiture decision to the Western District Appellate Court, which denied the appeal. L&C filed a motion for rehearing or transfer to the Missouri Supreme Court. Both were denied. L&C, at the time of the hearing, had filed a notice of intent to file a writ of certiorari to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Heartland Bonding posted a supersedeas bond on the $100,000 judgment on behalf of L&C. L&C’s attorney argued that the case was not ripe for a decision because L&C had not exhausted all of its appeals. The AHC ruled that disciplinary action can proceed even when an appeal is taken and ruled that there was cause to discipline L&C under 374.755.1(6) because it failed to satisfy the judgment within six months as required by 374.763.1.

The DIFP will convene a hearing on October 10th to determine what disciplinary action to take against L&C.

Bondsman Apprehends 'Dead' Fugitive

According to this report in the Star Press of Muncie, IN, on the day Shawnda Hatfield was scheduled to appear in court for sentencing on a forgery conviction, a newspaper obituary announced her unexpected death and cremation. The obituary appeared after a caller claiming to be Hatfield's niece phoned the newspaper to report her death, later providing a telephone number purported to be that of a Florida crematory handling the deceased's remains. The Star Press also received an obituary notice from an Eaton funeral home, announcing "Shawanda Hatfield" had died Aug. 28 in a Tampa hospital, with cremation planned in Florida. A copy of the death notice was sent by fax that day to the judge's office.

An unnamed bondsman, acting on rumors that Hatfield was in fact alive, tracked the convicted felon down and apprehended her. After she was returned to custody, Hatfield was sentenced to six-years with two years suspended. Hatfield had previously served time in the Indiana Department of Corrections for forgery.

DIFP Refuses to Renew Agent's License

The DIFP has refused to renew the bail bond license of Edward Loughary of Crystal City. According to the Department’s order, Loughary’s license was refused because he pled guilty in US District Court to mail fraud in 1993. The order states that Loughary is disqualified for licensure because of the plea and for fraud and deception on his 2003 initial application for licensure. Loughary answered “yes” to the question concerning any felony convictions on his 2007 renewal application. But according to the Department, Loughary answered “no” to a similar question on his 2003 application.

Loughary has 30 days to ask for a hearing before the AHC.

Assault Attempted with Pickax

According to this report from The Billings Gazette, an unnamed, Montana bondsman was assaulted with a pickax while questioning an individual about a bond fugitive. No one was hurt in the incident.

According to the report, Peter Dolan, 54, was arrested Tuesday when deputies responded to a disturbance at a residence. When they arrived, a man who identified himself as a bail bondsman said he was at the residence looking to arrest a man who had violated a bond agreement. The bondsman said he approached Dolan and asked if he knew where to find his client. The bondsman said Dolan grabbed a pickax and swung it at him. The bondsman said he took out pepper spray he carries with him and threatened Dolan with the chemical if he did not put down the ax. Dolan put down the ax and the bondsman called law enforcement.

Dolan was charged with assault with a weapon and held on $10,000 bond.

Springfield Bondsman Praised for Good Instincts

Eric Prothero was profiled in this report from KY3-TV and characterized as “a witness with a good eye and some good instincts.” Prothero, a bondsman from Springfield, was the victim of a robbery at a convenience store last Tuesday. According to the report, the accused robber, Travis Patterson, entered the Kum and Go Convenience Store demanding that Prothero and the store clerk get on the floor. After robbing the store, the accused fled the scene in a car. Prothero watched the man leave taking note of his vehicle. Prothero then jumped in his own car, caught up with the Patterson and reported the license plate number of the get-away car to police. Patterson was arrested for the robbery and the hold-up of two other Springfield convenience stores.

Patterson has been charged with three counts of 1st degree robbery and is being held in the Greene County Jail on $150,000 bond.

Also see: Springfield News-Leader article on Prothero

Mike Thomas: Life as a Bondsman

General agent and training provider Mike Thomas was profiled in his home-town newspaper, the Marshall Democrat-News. Thomas spoke about his job as a bondsman and how changes in the law affected him and his business. He also addressed some misconceptions about bail bonding in Missouri.

License Renewal Tips

Many of you have already renewed your licenses this year. For those who haven’t, here is some information to help you glide through the renewal process.

First of all, don’t wait until the last minute to complete your continuing education requirement. You are required to take eight hours of continuing education before your renewal. Many providers are scheduling these classes once a month, or as demand requires. You may not find a class in time if you wait until after you receive your renewal notice. Look at the right pane of this page for links to DIFP approved training providers. The class instructor will give you a certificate after you complete the class. The information on the certificate is used to complete the continuing ed. summary form sent with your renewal notice.

Secondly, you will have to be finger-printed by L1ID. In rural locations, they fingerprint once a week or once every-other week. To schedule an appointment for finger-printing, go to their site at http://www.l1id.com/ and click schedule an appointment. The cost is $56.95. They do not take cash or credit cards the day of the appointment. You can pay by credit card online, in advance. You do not have to wait until you receive your renewal notice to schedule your appointment. The fingerprints are sent electronically and not returned with your renewal packet.

Download the renewal application from the DIFP web site. The renewal fee is $150.00 by business check, money order, or cashier’s check. Personal checks are not accepted by the DIFP.

If you are renewing your agent’s license, in addition to the completed application, you will need the original signature of your general agent, the completed continuing education summary, the renewal notice sent to you by mail, and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

If you are renewing your general agent license, in addition to the application, continuing education summary, renewal notice, self-addressed envelope, you will also need a notarized affidavit stating that you are devoting at least 50% of your working time to the bail bond business, and an original letter from your bank, dated within 60 days of your renewal, stating that your CD is still on deposit and assigned to the State of Missouri.

The best advice I can give is do as much of the renewal paperwork as possible in advance of receiving your renewal notice. Do not delay in getting application packet in the mail as soon as you receive your renewal from the DIFP. Some agents have reported that it takes 30+ days to get their licenses renewed. Several have reported the their criminal background and fingerprinting checks have been delayed for various reasons. The DIFP will remove your name from the list of licensed agents if your renewal is not approved before your license expiration date.

DIFP Licensing Actions

The DIFP has filed several new licensing actions on its web site. The department has refused to issue two new bail bond licenses to individuals who have felony convictions in their backgrounds.

The DIFP has also refused to renew Gerald Franks’ general agent license. According to the department’s order, Franks’ license was not renewed because of his conviction in Daviess County in 2006. Franks was disciplined last February for this conviction. After a lengthy process, last February the Director ruled that because of mitigating factors, Franks’ license should be suspended for three days.

Franks submitted a renewal application in August. The Director’s refusal order states that in the February administrative action, the Director had full discretion to impose a three day suspension for the conviction of possession of a controlled substance. The new order states that on January 1, 2007, the qualification standard of the Missouri Supreme Court for bail bond agents was substantially raised for recent prior criminal history. The Director said, “As Applicant has failed to submit proof that he ‘meets the qualifications for surety on bail bonds as provided by supreme court rule’ under 374.715.1 RSMo, the Director has no discretion to issue the bail bond license.”

The director also stated: “Despite decisions by the Administrative Hearing Commission that could be subject to an interpretation that the law in effect at the time of the plea
should be applied, the Director believes that Rule 33.17 is currently effective and is intended by the Missouri Supreme Court to guide all Missouri courts charged with administering the qualifications for bail bond agents operating in those courts. For the Director to apply a conflicting or different qualification standard would produce the very undesirable result of the executive branch granting licenses to individuals, but who are unqualified by review in the judicial branch. For all of these reasons, and even if the 374.715 could be interpreted in such a manner to not mandate disqualification of the Applicant, the Director now exercises his discretion in refusing to renew the Applicant."

Franks and the other two applicants have thirty days to file for a hearing before the Administrative Hearing Commission.