Montana in the News Again!!!

It is things like this that should send a red flag to bondsman and their writing agents when reocurring Indemnitors pop up on multiple defendants where no "reasonable" ties can be made.


FLATHEAD COUNTY INVESTIGATING BAIL FOR SEX CLAIMS


HELENA - Authorities in northwestern Montana are investigating reports that a man who identifies himself as a pastor or a retired police officer is bailing women out of jail and trying to coerce sexual favors from them by threatening to revoke their bail.

"The most disturbing aspect of this is the vulnerability of these young women that he tends to be interested in," public defender Nicholas Aemisegger told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "They're desperate to get out of jail. Some of them have histories of drug addiction. It's just a very vulnerable population. This is somebody who very clearly sought to take advantage of that."

A bail bondsman alerted the Flathead County sheriff's office about the man in late November, after he posted bond for one woman with the requirement that she live with him.

"They'd make the impression to us or the bonding company that they knew each other and both parties were 100 percent comfortable with the situation, which proved not to be true," said Charles Pesola, owner of Moonlighting Bail Bonds. Pesola said he released the woman from the obligation of having to stay with the man.

Aemisegger said he was wary of the man when he tried to bail out one of his clients last month.

"He was very persistent in trying to get her out of jail," Aemisegger said. "He talked a good talk. He seemed to have a genuine interest, seemed to have some type of relationship with my first client."

Aemisegger said he didn't have the sense that it involved "predatory behavior" until his second client refused the man's sexual advances and the man moved to revoke her bond, which also required that she live with him. The revocation issue came up when the woman was in court on Dec. 16.

"My client told the judge that this man had told her he was married, had children and was a pastor," Aemisegger said. "She showed up at his place and there was no wife, no family."

"He indicated to me that he was a former officer, that he was retired," Aemisegger said.

Pesola said the man also told him he was a retired assistant police chief, but Pesola did not verify that. "We don't necessarily check into the history of who they say they are or what they say they are," Pesola said.

"We suspect there's an individual in the jail that's an inmate that's putting these girls in touch with him," Pesola said.

Sheriff Chuck Curry said his agency is investigating but that sometimes the victims are hard to locate. He said he believes there were three or four women involved.

"These are people who have been incarcerated, so sometimes they're not the easiest people to come up with," he said. "They aren't all coming forward."

Curry would not identify the suspect because the investigation is not complete and no charges have been filed.



Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-a ... z1hMMK44ds

_________________
Timothy Soule
Soule & Associates Investigations
Sheridan, WY
307-763-3134

"As Professional Bail Enforcement Agents, we secure the Risk of the Surety by lawfully protecting the interest of not only the safety and security of our Clients and their Surety Agencies, but their Indemnitors and Defendants as well."

We all know there's plenty of predatory activity going on in the Bonding industry i.e.some shady bondsmen (and women) revoking bonds so they can write more without increasing their build up fund. Improper disposition of collateral etc...

Over the years I've declined to work with some bondsmen for this very reason. There's bad apples in this profession just like any other. This case is a bit unique in that it was a predatory indemnitor, as it's usually the indemnitor that's getting shafted (usually because of their lack of honesty and poor decisions).

I agree that this situation is fairly unique, especially in this region. I used to see this on and off when I was in Las Vegas. In this industry, as a recovery agent, those who work outside their AO become more in tune with the differences of how each state writes their bonds (as well as bondsmen inside those AOs). By staying local, a recovery agent becomes complacent with their environment over time and gets used to how their clients write and post bonds, which I've seen turn into a bad thing as the recovery agents become complacent as well (not all - obviously the professionals keep up with continuing education). Those, like myself who tend to work cases that require much travel, constantly find themselves in and out of courts, law enforcement facilities, and online law related databases making sure that we abide by each areas statutes and regulations. Even more so, we tend to see more diversity on how each area writes their papers, keeps up with their clients, and even the amount of professionalism their is when they write bail.

I've seen Clients who write for Secena, Roche, and American Fidelity, literally have every single form their Surety uses filled out completely (no matter what the bond was). I like them

I've seen Clients who just use a generic application and the Surety Promissary only. And worse, I've have Clients who can't find the files whatsoever that I just have the NOI to go off of (which makes getting on the Court Clerks good graces and LEO Warrants/Records "extreme" good graces a MUST).

This quote was told to me by a man whom I turn to when I need help on after I've tried everything. He was a very good friend of Lance and told me this when I was new.
I don't live by this, but it does become resourceful when all else has failed.

In the end, no matter whether its bad bond writing, bad indems, defendants not showing up to do their paperwork (many bondsman post prior to visiting jails to get def's info), or just bad risk assessment.... the Bondsman goes out of their ways to help their Clients. We as recovery agents have to go out of our way of not only protecting our Client (bondsman) but their interests as well... be it their defendants, indemnitors, Property/Casualty Surety, or their pocketbook. As true Recovery Agents (keeping proper files accounted for open and closed), we can help our Clients when we our out working be noticing when repeat addresses and names come up between cases. Especially if we have to recover someone that we have new ties to them. I have had some cases where people and locations started blending into each other that the next time someone within that "group" wanted bonded out, the bondsman would weigh his/her risk depending on their discovered information on whether or not to bond that person or secure better collateral. Recovery Agents stay in business by helping keep their clients stay in business. I've seen Bail Bonds Offices turn down potential clients of rediculous amounts low and high because they look at the risk of the bond was more than it was worth.

I guess what I am trying to say is that as long as you are protecting your client, then they will take care of you as long as what you are doing isn't stupid, immoral, and/or illegal.

_________________
Timothy Soule
Soule & Associates Investigations
Sheridan, WY
307-763-3134

"As Professional Bail Enforcement Agents, we secure the Risk of the Surety by lawfully protecting the interest of not only the safety and security of our Clients and their Surety Agencies, but their Indemnitors and Defendants as well."