Matthew Cox | Inside True Crime Podcast - How Do Jail Bonds ACTUALLY Work

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

How Do Jail Bonds ACTUALLY Work

On July 18th, get excited. This is big! For the summer's biggest adventure. I think I just smurf my pants. That's a little too excited. Sorry! Smurfs. Only dinner's July 18th.

Get out there and get dirty, and I go catch my god. You do? Yeah. I suit up and everything. Yes. But he's going in custody day. There's no other options. He got away the first time.

Try to run us over. Yeah. Try to run us over. Family dollar, family dollar parking lot. So how does it work? Because to me, the way I thought the system worked is that somebody's got a $100,000 bond, that they need somebody to put up $100,000. And so they come to you. They give you 10%, you know, $10,000, you know, maybe a fee for an application fee or whatever, 100 bucks, 200 bucks.

and then you put up the $100,000 or you have some kind of an insurance company or something that puts up $100,000. Either they physically put it up or they just agree to pay the $100,000 on your behalf. And then you get to make, so then the guy he's out on bond for 90 days,

six months, he goes to court, he's found guilty, or he pleads guilty, he goes to jail for five years, whatever, or maybe he goes to trial. Either way, when the case is resolved, you basically have major fee for, you've made that $10,000. I was always wondering, like, how long can they stay out?

Because I know guys that their trial wasn't for three years. And then the other thing is I'd like to know, like, what happens if the guy takes off? Like, how does all of that work? Because, let's face it, guy gets $100,000. Like, I'm assuming you don't have $100,000 of your own money to put up. Right, right. So how does that work? So 100,000 would be the $10,000 bond premium.

They would pay the bondsman. So a percentage goes to your insurance company for their profit. And a percentage goes to something called a build-up fund account for you. And that's for all of your skips. And skips are when people miss court. So every bond that you write, some of it's going to go to the insurance and some of it's going to go to the build-up fund account and some of it and the rest of it is yours.

So you're not making $10,000. Right, no, no. You're making a couple thousand. No, no, it's better than that. Okay. So I'll break the percentage down to you. So I have a great rate with my insurance company. So every bond that I write, so that 10,000, 12% of that is going to go to my insurance company.

So they get $1,200 plus. You said there's a build-up fund. So that's a 10%, another 10%. Is that something that they require? Yes. The insurance companies requires that. And that's money that just goes and sits in an account. It just sits in an account for your scale.

Your skips, because you're going to, people are going to miss court. That's just, that's part of the business, you know. But you don't automatically lose that if they miss court, right? So if they miss court, you have like 60 days to capture these chokas. And then after the 60 days, the full bond amount, for instance, 100,000 has to be paid to that county clerk, like Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, Polk County Clerk of Court. So do you get some of that money back? you do. It's like a percentage. Like every 90 days it goes down.

So you do get some of your money back as long as you get them in custody. So. I don't like that. I don't like that at all. Yeah, at all. So I shared this one situation with this guy, his name was Solanto. And I made America's most wanted because I use social media to help me.

Okay. Yeah. So what was his bond? His bond was 89,500. But I'm going to give you guys the backstory of this. Okay. So bond is sucker out. Bond is 89,500.

He's attending his court dates, but the person that, I got a tip. Yeah, a person called me and said, hey, this dude's going to run on you. I'm like, you're sure he's doing what he needs to do. So who does a tip like that come from? Just like a girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, a friend. Yes, yes, it could be a friend. It could be a family member, girlfriend. It might be upset, baby mama, you know.

But there's nothing you can do if somebody just randomly calls, right? Yeah, sometimes you can, you know, because it's, if they can give me details or like what they're saying and things like that, I'm like, wow, he might, might do something. Right. So it was a traffic in a case, and so the guy was facing a lot of time. He's a career criminal, and he was faced a lot of time. So I'm like, hmm, so I will go to court, and I will pick them up at their court dates. You want to run on me? I'm going to get you from court.

So I let the bailiffs know, hey, this is what's going to happen. If I need help, they're going to help me. So I went to his court date, and I clank him after the court date. I put the cuffs on. Yeah, I put the cuffs on him. Yeah, so I'm like, he's like, what are you doing? I'm like, yeah, I know the plan. I know what's going on.

And I got, I got to get you in custody. I said, because I don't have any collateral for you. And this is just too big, this is a big risk that I'm taking. I'm just kind of starting off. So he's like, so I had my other bell bond buddy, transport him to the jail. And I met him at the jail. We do all the paperwork. And he's like, don't do me like this.

Because we had a relationship, like a personal relationship friendship. And so I'm like, at the end of the day, this is still my business, you know. So I go. You got three kids. I got three kids. I got responsibility. So I go out to Vegas and then families call and like, oh, we need him out. Mom's going to pass away.

And, you know, I have a really big heart. I cannot stand this heart of mine, but I do. I have a really big heart. So I'm like, mom, mom's saying she's going to make sure he gets there. But mind you, mom's co-defendant. Yeah, mom's co-defendant. Yeah. So, but I'm still trusting her. She's talking about God and this God-fearing woman. So I learned play on me. Yeah, she played on me. So I go get the joke that again. Distributing.

Yeah. But God-fearing woman. Exactly. All right. So I go get him again after I get back from Vegas. Another 89,500. So. So you get him out again. Second time. He pays you again. Right, some of it, not all of it. So he pays me some of it, and I get him out the second time, and months go by, and he's going, do what he needs to do. And then he deletes me off of social media, changes his phone number. I'm like, oh, shoot, this dude is about to run. That seemed like some rude flags.

Yeah. Why would you do that first? Exactly. I'm like, what? So I'm like, oh, my God, he's going to run. And so he missed port. So I get something called a forfeiture. It's a forfeiture letter saying this defendant missed court on this date.

At this time, you have to pay the Hillsworth County Clerk of Court X amount of dollars. You have like 72 hours or? So you have 60 days. Oh, okay. They're giving you 60 days. So I'm like, I'm going to catch him. Yeah, I'll catch him. Yeah.

I said the police will catch him or I'm going to catch them because I get out there and get dirty. And I go catch my guys. You do? Yeah. I sued up and everything. Yeah. So have my gun, my taser, my mace, all of that. So I'm like, oh, my God, hopefully the police just get him, you know.

So that didn't happen. It went on for months. So the money had to be paid. So the first set of bonds that I committed him on, I never filled out the application of exoneration that has to be filed with the county. So that clears you from that first set of bonds. So I got him out again. So another 89-5.

89,500. So the court's like, you got to pay for all of it. So it ended up being like 152,000. So I'm like, oh my gosh. I'm like, yeah, but I put them in custody the first set. So we're trying to fight me and my attorney, but they were not hearing it. They wanted the money. The court's wanted the money. That's ridiculous. Yeah. It's the same person. Yes, it's the same person. It's a technicality. It's a technicality. They didn't care. We want our money. And if you don't pay your money, your license gets suspended. Right. So 150. Can't believe you're sitting here. They're saying that the government would be unreasonable. Yeah.

That's a whole other, whole other story. So $152,000 was cut a check to them to the clerk of court. And my insurance company, they wrote that bad boy out. Yeah, they wrote that check out. Do they cancel you and say, hey, we're done? Sometimes they will, but. But you had a good relationship? I had a good relationship.

And they know that I don't write bad bonds. So this is rare, you know. And I'm like, listen, you guys know, I'm going to get this guy. You know, I'm going to get him. You know, I'm good for it, right? I'm good for it, right? But I was still a little nervous because I'm like, that's a lot of money, you know. So where is he?

Like, are you getting leads? Yep, I get it. Are you like, oh, he's in Vegas or he's in L.A.? So they were like, oh, he's in Tampa. He's in the Highland Pines area. Oh, he's in O'Kella. He's in Gainesville. You at least know he's here.

He hasn't left Florida. Doesn't have the means to run. Okay. You got to have money and resources. Well, he's forking out eight grand roughly every time. He's got some money. Well, I will tell you, I work with people. I let them do payment plans.

So, yeah, he should have had all of it, but he didn't have all of it. Okay. So, yeah, he, you know, so he's going from different places, and I'm getting all these different tips. So I'm like, you know what, let me put this stuff out on social media. They don't like when they're all over social media. So I'm like, oh, I found my little niche with that. Like, okay, you guys don't like that. So he's sending words back to me through the street.

So me and him are kind of arguing through social media. Yes. So what are you putting out there? Like, did you put a picture of him? Yeah, I put a picture. And he has, his whole face is tattooed. Oh, so he's not like, it's not like he's going to change his name. He's go get a job at the bank.

No, he definitely won't go get a job. He's only going to be selling drugs again. That's it. Yeah, he can't go get a job. His whole face is, so I used to say, let's find the clown. clown face, you know, so I kind of put some, you know, try to make funny, you know, and so everybody will laugh and then I'll get a little bit more tips and stuff like that. And then he ran, though, for eight months.

So I get a good tip on him and I call my team. I have, I do have a team. And I call my team like, hey, this is what's going on. I need you to be at this location. Is it the same person giving you tips? Different people. Yeah, and there's people right up under him. Okay.

Yeah, right up under him. It could be girlfriends that he's pissed off. Like, so this particular tip led to him, and he was in Gainesville, like had gotten a house, had a roommate. He was living there. So he really thought he was going to be able to run forever. Yeah, yeah. So we got him in custody, and right now you have to file a motion to get your money back. So that takes months to get back, so, but we know it's coming.

Right. So how much of your money did you get back? So 85%. Oh, okay. So you know what this reminds me of? And I, I, I, we had a bondsman before. No, we had a bounty hunter before. Have you ever heard of Stephanie Plum?

Mm-mm. Oh, he, he didn't, listen. She works for bail bondsman. So she's whatever the guy that's bounty hunter. She's a bounty hunter. Okay. It's a, they're novels. Mm-hmm.

And, yeah, it's a series of novels. And I mean, I read like 13 of them. Wow. Of course, I was locked up at the time. Right, right. Right. But, you know, and they're, and they're, they're silly. It's very pop-ish, you know. But they had all of them when I was locked up. And it's

a woman who was broke and she had an uncle who was a bail bondsman and she came in and said, look, let me work for you. And they're like, what are you? 110 pounds? And, you know, and she said, like New Jersey. She's got a little attitude and the whole thing. But this is, listen, but you're, you're the black Stephanie plum. Yeah. Listen, I'll send, I'll send, I'll send you the books they're hilarious send them to me they even made a movie it was a bad movie but it had like um uh it had like big actors in it and stuff but it just didn't do and even the actor the actress that they had play her she was like tall like she was a tiny little thing and then yeah anyway so i'm sorry go ahead sorry sorry sorry but that's like what you're saying

is like it's so silly all the things that happen yes absolutely so um so gainsville he's in Gainesville, got a location, team goes out. I didn't go because I had some other stuff going on in the cities. I'm like, y'all just go get him. And like I said, me and him, we were friends. Like, we were friends at one point. So they go get him. They go in with guns drawn. He tries to run out the back door. They got their shotguns, like at the back. And he couldn't do nothing but give up, you know, so. So what is the, what's the process? Like, if this guy, like, these aren't police officers.

Right. But if he runs out the back, and I'm standing there with a, you know, I'm a bounty hunter, is that what they call him bounty hunters? Well, they're bail bonds. It's in Florida. Like, other states are called bounty hunters, but in Florida, they're just bail bond agents. Okay. So there's a couple of bail bond agents that are there.

Right. They got a shotgun. Right. And another one's got a gun. Yeah. And you run out. Like, are they? allowed to stop him by any means possible, or do they have to be in fear of their life?

In fear of their life. And we typically use like a taser. Right. You know, mace. You know, you don't want to just shoot somebody. It's kind of just like law enforcement. But if they are armed, you have the right to do what you have to do, you know? So he was not armed, and he just, he had no choice but to give up.

So they took them in custody. They drove them down here to Hillsborough County. And I just put on a show at the jail. I'd let the jail know, hey, this guy's been on the run for like eight months. I'm going to record this. And so they were, we all just got some good laughs and guys at the jail that night. So we waited a couple hours for him to get here. And so I'm recording him walking up.

And he is mad as hell. I'm like, dude, like I was trafficking and fencing all. Like, you ran off on me. So I'm like, you cost me 150,000. So I'm like, do you want to say something for the Instagram? And he's like, leave me alone, Shea. And so I'm like, you know I got to do this to you because you really have driven me crazy for eight months. So we get in there and I'm like, listen, put some respect on Duke's by my name.

Like, don't ever try us. Like, don't do us like that. So we're recording. And me in the jail office, we're laughing and stuff. He was just like, you know, I'm sorry. I say, yeah, yeah, you're sorry, but you got caught. You know, I said, it's all good. I said, we got you and custody now.

Then I can get my money back. So that was a, that went through the city. Like, oh my gosh, she ended up getting him. Like, that was big for me. All the bell bonds were calling me. You ended up getting him. How did you get him? I said, well, I'm not going to tell you my resources, you know.

But, yeah, I ended up getting him. I'm very persistent and I'm going to work those tips. Like, I'm going to get that person. I'm not going to let them just get off. Like, no, I need my money back. What ultimately did he end up getting found guilty? So he's still going through the process. So he goes to court in June, like for just a status review.

I've been following the case. So he'll probably go to pretrial this year, but I don't have a date of when he'll go to pretrial. So I'm definitely following the case. But he was facing like 15 to 20 years before he ran. So we shall. see what what mom in is his mom still out oh yeah she's out on bond yeah did you bought her or no she bought it through another agency and that's a whole another story yeah that's a whole other story because i was trying to get that bell as bond's been listen she may run on you let's revoke her

bond so then she'll tell us where he's at he would not do it he would not budge so i'm like okay um yeah we're all part of the same family i work together right I got them. Not everybody? Not everybody. And the bell bond in business is very competitive. So if one sinks, they feel like, oh, I'm going to get their clients, you know. So when you started and you're like, hey, I'm starting to make good money.

At what point did you transition? Like, at what point did you say, okay, I'm not going to be a psychologist anymore. I'm not going to do the school thing anymore. I can, I, my time is better served doing this. Absolutely. I'm going to tell you the story. So. All right.

I get a call from the jail one day, and I was working as a school psychologist, and I get a call from the jail, and the guy says, hey, I got a $500,000 bond, and I'm like, oh, okay, wow. And he's like, we have all the money. He's like, but they reduced my bond of $375,000. So I'm like, okay. So I was like, so you have all of the money to get out on a $375,000 bond. Does that mean you have 375,000? You have 35,000? 37,500.

Okay. Yes. So I'm like, wow, that's a person's whole salary. So I'm like, I'm going to get this approved through the insurance company. So we go through the process and getting a signer that was retired, a great signer. He's ex-military. Good dude. Never been in any trouble before.

So we get him qualified for $375,000 bond with no collateral. Because that's somebody, so the guy in jail has someone on the outside that will sign for it and guarantee it. I guarantee it, yeah, exactly. So mom signs for him. And so she's like, well, how do I get the 37,500 to you? I was like, you could wire it. So I give her the information to the account the next couple hours. I'm like, whoa, 37,500 is in my account.

So I'm like, I'm going to quit the school dish or this is what I'm thinking in my head. I'm like, I'm getting a whole person's salary and one, and then the phone keeps ringing with more and more bonds. Like, I'm going to be able to quit this. So, but I had 17 years in with the school district, so I just couldn't do that, you know. Oh, yeah, I was going to do you need to, what is it, don't you, at 20 or is it 25? It's 20, 25, yeah, it's 25, yeah. So I'm like, I was so sick of the school district.

It's just, it's not what it used to be. So that particular bond just kind of made me. look at life a little bit differently, like, whoa, I can pay this off, I can pay this up, you know, so I ended up getting the guy approved, and we wrote the bond out. Like I said, money came. Mom ended up getting an ankle monitor for him. He had to wear ankle monitors, so we can monitor wherever he's at, you know. And so he ended up getting released or whatever. So from that day, my phone just continued to ring with more and more bonds. And so I'm like, are you advertising?

Google. And then word of mouth, like, and I will tell you, I worked at the alternative school in the district. That's the, the kids get suspended and expelled from all the traditional schools and they're sent to this non-traditional school, which is the alternative school. Right. So I always tell people this story too. September 1st of 2021, I opened my bell bond business. September 3rd of 2021, one of my favorite students. went to jail in Orient Road jail and he was like I used to be his teacher at the time

my teacher is a bell bondsman now so he's spread up my name throughout the whole jail so my phone would not stop ringing so that's all it took that's all it took word of mouth and so just went ramp it and that's how the one guy with the $375,000 bond that's how he ended up contacting me so how I market like Google like Google does his job and word of mouth and if you treat people the way they want to be treated like your name goes a long way so um what happened with that person the 350 bond he's still out on bond really yeah he's still out on bond so how long can you stay out on a bond until the case is over so what if that's three years yeah it's going on three years it's going on three years Oh, I assume that, like, after, you know, whatever, a year, they had to re-up or something. No, he is out on bond until this case is over. That lingers over your head. What is his?

Why was his bond so big? What was the case? Do you remember? A child was harmed and died. Okay. Yeah. So he, like I said, had never been in any trouble before. Good guy.

I'm ex-military. crazy situation. I don't really want to talk about that. But yeah, he's still fighting right now. So, yeah, so he's still out of bond three years later. Yeah. And did you actually open like a storefront for us? So you have to, you have to bylaw, have the office.

Okay. You can't do it out of your spare room? You can't do it out your spare room. Or you can do it like this in your living room? No. You can't do that. You have to have an office. So I have an office in Temple Terrace area.

I grew up in Temple Terrace. Did you? Yeah, I actually like that area. So, yeah, so that's where my office is at is in Temple Terrace. And so people come like... On Bush, 56th Street. 56th Street. 56th Street.

Yeah, 56th, right down the street from King High School. Yeah, yeah. I dated a girl. A couple of girls went to King High School. Yeah. I used to work at King High School. Did you? Yeah, I was a school psychologist.

Oh, wow. So a lot of those kids I work with, I'm bonding them out now. Jeez, that's... Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah, so it's like... But somebody has to get the job done. Let me be the one get it done, you know?

I mean, when you see them come in there, or you're like, what do you do? Yeah, yeah. But I'm so, I'm not judgmental. I'm like, I keep it so real with them. I'm like, I told you guys in school, this is what's going to happen, you know. They're like, I know, miss. So do the same...

people kind of come over and over and over again? Some of them. I call my frequent flyers. Right. And I'll go get them. Some of them, they're like, miss, you know, I'm going to pay you when I get out. I'll go get them with nothing because I know they're going to pay me because they're going to need me again.

So I call those my frequent flyers. Those are my frequent flyer base. So some guy gets arrested, goes to jail, gets a $10,000 or $20,000 bond. You get them out for nothing? That's nuts. It is. It is. It's my heart.

I'm getting better at, like, saying, no, I need my money up front now because you will take some losses doing that. So I've learned. But some of my frequent flyers that they just come soon as they get out, here's the money. Right. You know what I'm saying? Like, if they have that history. That history. You have to have a history.

And we have to have a relationship with each other before I would do something like that. But, yeah, if they have a history or doing what they need to do. and they don't have the money like right then miss i just need to go to this when i get out and i'll and so that happens so i'll go get them on 10 000 dollar brown thousand dollars like i got a question with the how the money works i guess so a hundred thousand dollar bond you have to put up 10 grand to get them out and with that 10 grand that's the inmates providing that yes the family family somebody somebody and you said 12% goes to insurance right And then 10% goes to...

12% of the $10,000, which is $1,200. Yeah. And then 10% goes to my build-up fund account. It's called a buff account. Just to have like a buffer for... For people that skip court. Okay. So then you have, let's just say, $7,000, $7,000 left.

What's that money? That's yours. That's yours. But if they go on the run, then what, you're liable for the $100,000? Yes. Well, the insurance company... The insurance company will pay it. They'll pay it.

And so the insurance company is going to take it out that buildup fund account. So you have a lot of money in that account because every single bond you write, they're going to put money 10% of that. So fairly quickly. Fairly quickly. It builds up to cover a lot of bonds. But if you come in fresh in the game like I did with the $152,000, that would wipe me out. Yeah, so if someone runs and what if you don't have the money in your buildup account? The insurance cover.

The insurance company is going to cover the rest. And then they're looking at you like, okay, what's up? Like, what are you going to do? You better get this guy. You know what I'm saying? So when you send someone, I'm sorry, are you doing? I was wondering, when you send someone out to go find somebody, I mean, I understand you're able to do it also.

But when you send someone out, let's say you're busy, whatever, and you said you have like a team of people, are these other bondsmen like you that are just a group, like, hey, we're kind of all affiliate, or are these people that work underneath you? No, no, they're just Bell Bondsman, and the insurance company has hired them. So, hey, we need you. They're just a team. We need you to go get these people. Okay.

So they, so you send out, whatever, two or three guys, do you, and they grab the guy, do you pay them? Insurance company will pay them. What do they pay? 10%. So 10% of the 100,000. So they'll get $10,000, and they split it up amongst each other. Oh, man. So that's why, like, I.

I would just pay, I used to pay bonds and look, go get this person. But now I'm like, oh, I'm going to go get them myself. Right. Because you just, that's money you're losing. You know what I'm saying? Typically when you show up at somebody's house, you knock on the door, they know they skipped. They open the door. You see them.

Do they bolt or do they typically just go, all right, can I, let me get a change of clothes? You can come in? Let me, can I at least make a phone call? Can I put some, let me get $100, put this on my books. You know what I'm saying? Like, or do they, they jump out the window and run across the street? So, every situation is different. You just don't know what you're going to get.

I've had people just say, you got me. And they put their heads behind their back and cuff them. You got people that have run, ran under their house, jumped over gate, jumped gates. And, oh, you don't do that. You're not chasing. I do. I promise you, I put my tennis shoes. I know, but I put my tennis shoes on.

and I'm a whole other person when it comes down to a skip. Like, I'm a whole other person. So, yeah, I've had to jump gate. And I will tell you, let me go back to the student that helped me start my business. He was my first person that ran on me on a $20,000 bond. And he jumped gates and he was like, you're not taking me yet. I'm like, listen here. I'm not your teacher now.

I'm a bell boss, you know. And so I'm like, don't do this. Like, don't do this. This is the argument while you're running. Yes. I'm like, come on. Come on. You know, and he's like, no, I can't go to jail, Ms. Dukes.

I'm like, you're going today. You're going today. So me and another bond, and we're chasing them. We're jumping gates, all of that, you know. So we ended up getting them on the ground and we got him in custody. And I took them in in my car. You take them in your car. And he's like, I'm so sorry, miss.

And I'm like, yeah, they're always sorry when they get caught. So, yeah, that one was very eventful. Like, oh, my gosh. You don't like, how far is a taser shoot? Like, I'm thinking, if I start getting close to him, I might just pull out the taser stop and be like, and hit this guy. Yeah, and I didn't want to do him like that because, like I said, we're not friends anymore. I know, I know.

And I'm just so soft-hearted. I hate that about myself. But, yeah, I didn't want to tase them. His kids are out there and the whole neighborhood was out. How many, like, is there a lot percentage of your clients are people that you've, like, known previously? Or does it just a select for you? Can't be that high now. Like 40%.

Are you serious? Yeah. Because I've worked with all the at-risk individuals in the school district. And now they're old. They're adults now. They're going to jail. They're not going to juvenile. They're like, and I was working in the district and I was like 24 years old, you know,

and some of the kids are like 16, 15. So they're a little bit younger than me now. You know what I'm saying? So they're still getting in trouble. Do you do just do like state or what if it's, federal. No federal. Just state.

How come? Well, federal, they typically, they'll do like a signature bond for them. Like, you sign the papers and I will be back and I will appear at all my. Or they don't give them anything. And they don't give them anything. They just sit. So, yeah, we don't bother with federal bonds. Yeah.

But it still works the same. If they were to say 200,000, you know, because I mean, they do sometimes, like, you're right. Like, normally it's like, we're going to let them out. We're not going to let them out. And we'll let them sign them for yourself. So, yeah, signature bonds. But it would work probably the same. Yeah, works pretty much the same.

So, yeah, like I said, some people will just surrender. I'm like, you know, you got me. And some people are like, listen, here, I'm not ready to go right now. And they're going to do whatever they have to. And then you got to do whatever you have to. I'll share another story, a $100,000 bond. This was a traffic and offense in all case, too. And this individual, he was some.

something else. Like he paid the full 10,000. Um, and I got a tip that he is going to run. So I get him into the office and, and I clank him. Because I'm like, yeah, I clank him. Yeah, I clank him. So he's like, what are you doing? I said, hmm, I heard about your little plan. I'm going to stop it right now. Shea, when do you like that? You know, they have so much game. Like, oh, they have so much game. So me being a softhearted person that I am, I ended up saying, okay, listen, if you put an ankle monitor on, I'm going to let you go. You got pretrial coming up. You better go. Pre-trial cut ankle monitor off to me. If I'm going to run, I'll cut the ankle monitor off. And they do that. They'll cut the ankle monitor off. They do all that. So I was just being nice, you know.

So I ended up letting him go. I let he's like, I haven't missed any court. I had no failure to your peers in my background. I say, you know, you're absolutely right. You do go to all your court dates. You are a career criminal, but you attend all your court hearings. I love it. You're well-behaved. Yeah, you're well-behaved. So I took all of that in consideration. So boom, pre-trial comes. He runs. He runs. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. So I'm like, I got to get out here in the community and get some, I got to get some tips on him, you know. So you have the application that they fill out, the signer as well as the defendant. So that's what you have to work off of. let's get in contact with some of these people that's on the signers information and the defendant's information.

So that's where you start off. So I'm doing background checks with all these people going to their houses and things like that. So this one particular house I went to is like, yeah, I'll get him for you, but you got to give me, you got to give me some money. Absolutely reward money. I got some cash money for you. So I gave him half. This is just some guy who said I'm going to grab him and hold him? He knows, like, yeah, he really, really knew him.

You know, so. Not I'm going to go to his house and call you when I'm there, but no, no, I'm going to. No, he said, he says, I got, I'm going to get him for you and I'll send you the location. So when I'm sending you the location, that's where you need to go pick him up at. Okay. So did that. So, um, so me and my son, my son's, he's a Belbon agent because he would see that mom was out here. How old's your son?

He's 20. Okay. Yeah, he's 20. So he'll see that mom was. It is. It is. It is. So he would see that mom, mom was out here catching these guys. He's like, I'm not going to protect my mom, you know. So he became a bail bond agent. So me and him go out and pick up the guys ourselves. So this particular case got a tip where this guy was at. And he did get away the first time. He got away the first time. Try to run us over. Yeah. Try to run us over in a family dollar, family dollar parking lot. So. Okay. You can go, but I promise I'm going to get you. I'm definitely going to get you now.

So what's the little back, like the details of that? Like you pulled up? He's already in the car? Yeah. So I pull up. He's in the car. And Sean, which is my son, he jumps out with the taser. And the defendant is like, oh, shoot. Like, oh, my God. And so it was just a little bit of room where he could maneuver the car. And he did it. He was able to maneuver the car. And he got out.

So he drove off. And so it was a couple weeks. I was like, you know what? I'm going to enjoy the holidays. You know, it was around holiday time. I'm enjoying my holidays. But you better believe I'm going to get you. Like, I'm really going to get you.

So he, the guy calls back again. He says, hey, I'm going to, I'm going to provide you with a location. So I was like, okay. So got the location. So you have to sit on the house. Sometimes you're doing surveillance for hours. You're just sitting, watching the movement. So at the house, it looks like a McDonald's drive-through traffic.

Like, you have people pulling up on their bikes, getting drugs, just drug transaction. Nice neighborhood, too, in Carra Wood. And so I'm just sitting, just sitting back watching everything going on and waiting for the guy to get, to come out and get in the car. So we were there for probably about three hours. He jumps in the car. So I tell my son, I said, listen, we're either going to make him flip that business. over excuse my language but he's going in custody day there's no other options so he's driving and I'm in another car so he doesn't know this car that I'm in so he we're driving and just driving

and he's switching lanes and I'm switching lanes too but I'm back I'm trailing him and he doesn't have a clue so we cross over Pasco County line and so he goes into Walmart to get gas so I said Sean, this is it, you know, and I do call 911. I said, this is what's going to happen. If anyone calling with disturbance, this is us. We're bail bond agents. We're out to get one of our skips. So they're like, no, wait until we get there.

No, we can't wait for y'all. Right. You know what I'm saying? We have got to get you. We've got to get him. This is $100,000. So we jump out. We jump out.

We both come around with our tape, with a taser and a gun. And he runs. So I'm like, tell my. But not in the car. No, he's on feet. on foot now. So I said, Sean, shooting with the, um, shooting with the taser. Taser did not work. Like, some of them are so high, like the taser won't work. So I'm like, oh, my goodness. So we are chasing this guy into Walmart. So we chase him into Walmart and loot. And my son had, I know,

the big one, right? The big super Walmart. It was like a movie. It was a movie that day. So he jumped on him like a football player because he's a big kid, you know, and tackled. him into the subway table and blood everywhere. And so we ended up getting him into cuffs. And then the ambulance had to come get him. And, um, he was, only in Walmart. Only a Walmart. So everybody, nobody skipped a beat. Yeah. They kept ringing up their own stuff. No. Yeah. Must be a bell upon. You know what? They actually were like, holy crap. This is so, oh my God, we got this recorded. Like, they were so excited that day. It was so, so exciting at that Walmart that day. but yeah we ended up getting them in because they had to go to the hospital and then they

transported him into the jail and so we didn't have to make the hundred thousand dollars but that was a very that was a fun day like i was like i kind of like this has has anybody like skipped and they're gone yes yeah i have um i have two that are i know where they're at i'm gonna get them um is this as recently So it happened a year and a half ago. Oh, okay. And they, it's case too. Boy, all this is.

Fentz because they're giving out a lot of time for these in all cases. Like, it's a lot. So they're running. So I don't even bond on all cases, even with collateral. I don't want to hear the word. Any case that starts with the F, get off my phone. I don't want to deal with it because you guys are running. So, yeah, these two guys, they're in Miami.

So their stuff is coming. to a head, too. So why are you, since, okay, if you pay up the money or the insurance company pays the money and every 90 days, a portion of that money, you're just not getting back. Right. At some point, do you just, like at some point, you're not getting any of the money back. Right. After two years, you get no, nothing back. So if after two years, are you just like, I'm not even looking for the guy?

Yeah, you don't even look for them. They'll eventually get caught. After two years, it's over. You don't get nothing back. How do you know they're in Miami? Tips. Got some good. tips.

Wait, wait. What happened to the street code? What street code? That money talks. Right. Yeah. Oh, so that's so it's basically like I'll pay you. What do you pay for tips?

So if it results, it has a result. In arrest, yes. So, 5,000. I typically like, if their bonds are big, I'll say, yeah, I get you 5,000. Right. You know, so they get $5,000 cash. So it's kind of negotiable, right? Like, might be 500.

Exactly. It might be a thousand. But the bigger bonds, listen here, I'd rather pay you $5,000 than this is $100,000. Right. You know what I'm saying? So people are like, oh, yeah, I need the money. A lot of people need money, you know, so. Oh, it's not like you're giving up a patriot to.

You're not giving up, you're giving up, you know, good citizens. like this guy's he's dealing you know dope or whatever exactly exactly um so so sometimes do you go in the hole trying to catch them but just to avoid the bigger loss oh yeah absolutely

and then so if your reserves are dried up and the insurance has to pay it out eventually isn't insurance just going to eventually cut you so that's like the ultimate risk is like you lose all your money and then you don't then you don't have any way to fund exactly your balance yeah so you That's why it's like, you have to get these people.

You just can't just let them go. You know what I'm saying? It's your livelihood on the line. So you have to get them. Like the ones that are in Miami, I just, they were like a $25,000 and a $50,000. So I was focusing on, I had two bigger skips out. So now I can focus on them. So their day's coming.

Do you always have skips or there's always somebody's out there? It's always somebody going to skip. And it could be like a little $500 bond. It could be a little $1,000 bond. mom, but how, I'm sorry, go ahead. So I have, I tell me about thousands of clients, probably one to two percent are not going to go to court. They're going to run.

So how many bonds do you have out at any one time? My liability right now out is probably $7 million. Listen, what are you doing? You got like a teaching degree and a psychology. You're like, you're raised in the suburbs. Like, what are you thinking? I know. You're dealing with these there.

Alex? I know. I don't know. I just have always had a knack with dealing with people that are challenged. It's a challenging individuals. Challenge. Like, that's the nicest way to put it. Yeah. I don't want to call them. Skumbbags. I try not to do. I dress their name up a little bit. Some of them are scumbags. I try not to call them all that because sometimes you have good people that have gotten in trouble. Like, I mean. I mean, I agree, but those are like, you know, these are, these are distribution charges. These are not. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. This is a Well, sometimes they can, you know, sometimes you've got a low-level drug addict who's selling a really just selling enough to pay for his habit. Like, to me, is that distribution.

I mean, it is distribution, but it's such a low-level. It's like you're, this is a guy who's just trying to, he's just broke, he can't function, he's just trying to pay enough to pay for his habit. But then you've got the guys who, they got multiple trap houses, they're, they got employees practically. They're doing tons of this. They're doing it real big. Yeah. Those guys, it's, that's a problem. Oh, yeah.

Oh, that's a serious problem. I'm just like, you guys can't do this forever. Like, you're going to do something different. Well, I wonder, and I was wonder when they run, like, what are you thinking? Like, they can't get IDs. They can't. Can't get a job. They can't do nothing.

So it has to be difficult. When we caught Solanto, he looked at like a bug of wolf because his hair had grown all out. And, you know, but he was a dresser. He was dressed really nice. So whatever money he was making while he was on the run, he was buying clothes. He still wants to look good. Yeah, he wanted to look good. I may be on the run, but still want to look good.

And he did. I'm like, boy, you came in there looking sharp there. You look real nice. But, yeah, you can't really do a lot while you're on the run. You can't. What are your parents thinking? Like, what do your parents say when you have this, sit down and have this conversation with your conservative parents with their normal middle-class jobs?

Like, they must have been like, what are you doing? Like, what are you doing? You're going to get killed. And I'm like, mom, mom, dad, just let me. I got this. I took a course. Exactly. And they taught us some defense mechanisms in this course.

And so they're just like, so I had to delete them off of social media because when I put out certain stuff about the, you know, people that are on the run, they're like, the family is going to kill you. Their family is going to kill you. And I'm like, okay, mom, you know, dad. Whatever happens, happens. This is my livelihood. You guys don't take care of me. I take care of myself, you know, so. What's funny is that kind of stuff, like it's like the guys who snitch on each other.

They're always like, oh, you will watch out. They're going to kill you. They're going to, but that almost never is not the movies. It's not the movies. Yeah, a lot of people, they just talk a good game. I'm like, listen, I'm a badass too. Bring it on. I keep my gun with me wherever I go.

So just let you know, too, you know. So my parents are just like, oh, we don't know about. this. Like, listen, like I said, you guys don't help me. This is what I do for a living. But it's been, it's been several years now. Yeah. They feel more comfortable now.

Do you tell them any of your stories? Oh, yeah. They love to hear their stories. Yeah, they love to hear the stories. So, yeah. So they get some humor out of it too. Does your son work out of your location? He does.

Is he planning on starting? Are you playing, the guys thinking about someday starting other locations? Yes. Yes. We are going to start other locations. He has to work up under me for two years, so he's almost done. He has a few more months. Well, then he's got to take the state test.

He's already taken it. They've kind of changed stuff. Like, you take the state test first now. It's a little bit different now. So he already passed the state test. He is a licensed bondsman, but he still has to work up under me for two years. Do you have to have, and I don't really know. I know it changed recently in Florida, but do you have to have...

a concealed weapons permit? Yes. Did you have one? You had one prior, but didn't they recently change the law? They did, but I already had mine. And then I purchased my son one, you know, a gun as well. So he's able to carry because we... So what is the law now?

So the law now is you basically, anybody could have a gun. You just can't be like a felon. and, you know, you can carry. Yeah, you can care. So you don't have to have a concealed weapons permit in Florida. You can carry a weapon concealed. Concealed, exactly. Yeah, I know my, so my, you know, my wife and I are obviously felons.

And she was actually a hunter, a tour guide for like six years. So she's a hunter. She's alligators, hogs, deer. if you asked her out of everything about going to jail losing that is like voting like all the things all the negatives you could have her biggest problem is I want to be able to not even carry I just want to be able to hunt she just wants to be able to go hunting right and that it really upsets her I bet because you know she'll say you know well this and this you know these people are you know they're going they're going you know shooting and I'm like well we're not going

And she's like, I know, you know, I'm like, okay, just letting you know, don't think we're not, we're not going. That sucks. Yeah, yeah, she doesn't, so, I know. And I actually had a concealed weapons permit. Right. But when I took the class, I used to think when I got my concealed weapons permit, like, oh, I'm going to carry everywhere. Right. And then I took the course.

Right. And the guy that took the, that did the course, or taught the course, scared me. so bad that I realized, like, you know, it was all the things that reasons I wanted to have the gun, like, oh, well, sometimes I go to the movies and it's really not a good area. And, you know, we have to park your car over here and, like, I'll see some sketchy guys. And I want to make sure that I have a weapon, you know, with me in case something happens. And his whole thing was like, then why go? Right. Don't they have other theaters? Exactly. Why would you go? You know, he made all these valid points that talking to your idiot buddies don't come from, you're talking to your

other 22-year-old buddies. Like, yeah, bro, yeah. But then you start talking to this guy, and he's like, you realize if you pull your weapon and fire it, you'd better be able to cover this, this, this, because it's just because the guy mouthed off to you and you were, there's all these things that you're like, the more you think about it, it was like, like, you have to explain to the police why you went to an area where, why you had you gun on you, why you went to an area where you thought you needed your gun, right?

Why did you, you know, why did you have it on? all the steps and you have to meet certain criteria to be able to use your weapon, it got to the point where it's like, yeah, honestly, I got more of a problem having this thing on me. Right. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, your situation's different.

Yeah. But, and even when I eventually had rental properties, it was the same thing. It was like, yeah, well, some of my rental properties are in bad areas. Yeah, but you can't go collect rent with a gun. With a gun. Like, you know, so because then it becomes a whole extortion, possible extortion. and possible extortion thing. So, yeah, so, yeah, we try to, the gun thing, I try not to use that.

Because you just, you just don't never know which way it's going to go. And is it really worth it? And, you know, and I just have a different approach. I let my psychological skills help me a lot in situations, trying to talk people down. Like, sometimes I won't have a bulletproof vest on, you know, like, just not having that. And they're, they're more apt to talk to me, you know, or I can talk them down, you know. So, um. Well, they think most of the time, too, it's, it's, if they're going to run, they're going to get into a shootout.

They're just going to run. They're just going to run. Right. Yeah. They're just going to run because you got the element of surprise. You just pop up on them. They don't, a lot of them don't have weapons on them and they, you know, but they just run. Yeah.

On foot. So my son is extremely fast. So if you run, we're both going to be on you. He says he's a big guy. Yeah. Yeah. So we're going to both chase you down. He's probably, he's definitely a lot faster than me, but I'm going to run too. I keep my shoes on, my Nikes and do what I have to do. So, and like I tell people, I build a relationship with my client. So their response when they see me is a little different than when they see my team. Like, the respect that they have for me. Because like when they're out on bond, it's stressful. Their whole case is stressful. The whole case is stressful. The whole. court proceedings stressful. So they call and it's like I counsel them.

They call all times of night and I'll talk to them and, you know, listen. So they appreciate that, you know, so. Do you ever know who their attorneys are? Yeah, some of them. You have like a group of their attorney. Yep. Some of the attorneys I know. Some of the attorneys refer their clients to me.

So I'm building that relationship with attorneys in the area. Yeah, I was going to say, it's funny because, you know, you just have a bunch of rental properties and people always, the horror story of rental properties are, well, if you're evicting someone what if they trash the place and and you know had like 50 over 50 rental units and we were evicting like almost every other month where you're evicting somebody and honestly we'd only had one person that ever trash the place and really trashing the place didn't even consist of of doing any real damage like they cracked a window they punched a couple holes in the drywall but that was it and people you know like look if i want to trash a place i'll just take a

take a hammer. You give me five minutes with a hammer. I'll do $50,000 with a damage. They don't. And people are like, well, I don't understand. Like, well, here's the thing. The people, even if they bitch and moan, the fact is, they know they owe the money. And deep down, they might be upset and yell and scream and hate you and call you names and be angry at you.

But the fact is, you know you didn't pay. You know I have to evict you. And same thing. If you're coming for them, like they may be angry. You can't bring me to jail. You're trying to do this. But you know you owe the money. And you know you're not.

You've got to go in eventually. You can't run forever. Right. And a lot of these people don't have the means. You got to have money. You've got to have support. A lot of these people don't have that. Right.

Yeah. So what is your vetting process or what are some signs that say like this guy will be a good person to make bond for? This guy is definitely going to be a problem. Okay. So we do a background check to qualify a bond. So what does that mean like through who like likes its nexus or credit? So we, like, have Arrest.org that you pull up all their arrest, and it has for multiple states. So I do my background checks on that.

And then I have another system that does a background check as well. You don't want to bond out people that are, have like a bunch of prior failure to appear. So anybody would have failure to appear. I call them FTAs. I don't even bother with those type of bonds. It's like, no, I'm not going to bond you because you have a history of missing court. You're a liability. So you want to make sure you have a great signer with somebody that's employed, has something to lose.

You want to make sure they haven't been just released from prison. Like three years, you're not supposed to get in any trouble after you're being released from prison. So if they've been recently released from prison, we won't do that type of bond. but yeah you just you take it's a gamble on any bond that you write but you do want to look at those things like do they have a prior history of ftAs are they a career criminal are they facing prison time um yeah is a signer really strong the signer will they be willing to help you if this person goes on the run so um what about like if the signer of like do you ever have someone put up their house or and how does that work? Like if they have a $200,000 house and they have a mortgage on

it, there's 150,000. So they have 50,000 in equity. Like, or is that what you're looking at the equity? The equity. So a lot of times, some of these people have houses that are completely paid for. So those are the houses that we like. Yeah. Those are collateral. We put that up for collateral. It's clear, no liens on the house. And so we put, some people put the house up for collateral in lieu of paying the full bond premium too because some people get it mixed up like oh well we'll just give you the house we don't have to pay anything that's not how it works it's like you put up the collateral and pay the bond premium so like i had a six hundred and seventy five thousand dollar bond and the house is worth like 700,000 so they put up the house for collateral

you have to go file paperwork with the clerk accord and get it recorded so it's official Um, and then they paid the bond premium, um, so what, what determines the size of the bond? The type of crime, their background. Um, yeah, their background, like, what type of criminal history do they have? Yeah, it's like the, um, the district or the, the, the, I want to say U.S. attorney. The state attorney determines like, hey, this guy was arrested for murder. Right. He's got, he's, you know what I'm saying? he's been in jail before. So they might say it's 100,000 because it was attempted murder.

It's another 100,000 because he just did five years for battery. You know what I'm saying? That's 200,000 or half a million or what you know, they might really, because they're really concerned. Right. This person, they feel is an immediate danger to society and maybe they won't even show up. Right. So it's like an individual basis based on, like sometimes you have first time offenders.

they'll release them on their own recognises, ROR, meaning they don't have to pay anything. But, yeah, it's all based on individual history and the crime that was committed. What was your biggest bond? $675,000. This was a robbery case. Home invasion.

It was $675,000 young kid. A home invader was able to come. come up with the 10% if you can come with that, what the hell are you doing home invasions for? What are you doing home invasions for? That was crazy. Like, his family put all this money

together to get him out. He was a young kid, like, grandma retired, so grandma got a stash. That's her favorite little grandchild. So, whoa. How long ago was that? That was about a year ago.

Oh, is that case. It is. He got prison time, got three years in prison. He was faced on, I know. Something about that cases. I don't know. But he was faced like 20 years and then it ended up being three years. Yeah, that's something was, I don't know. The guys that are with them are doing the 20. Yeah. They just spread some of that around. Yeah, that case. I was just like, whoa.

How nervous were you writing that? I wasn't that nervous because the house. The collateral security. So if you run, if you run, the houses, we're going to cover that $675,000. So those are the bonds that you can sleep at night when you have collateral. Right. Yeah. But a lot of times people don't have collateral.

But the ones that you secure the bond with the collateral, you can sleep at night. So who makes a determination on whether or not you're going to give them a bond? Is it just you or is it you and the insurance company? If you said, if you said, I want to make this bond, is the insurance company, could they look at it and go? No. Yes, they do review bonds that are over 100,000. Okay. They let us decide what we want to do, 100,000 or less, but after 100,000 more, then they review, they have a committee that reviews it.

How long does that take? It takes a couple hours. Oh, okay. Yeah, they do a thorough. Say days. No, they do a thorough background check, and they'll be like, no, this is why we don't want to approve this. This is why we will approve it. That seemed like a fun job.

Yeah. That's one of those jobs. Nobody thinks that's even a job. You never hear that in middle school? No. They're underwriters for, yeah, for bonds. So that's, yeah. So they're going to guide you on these big bonds, too.

Yeah. This just seems like a lot of fun. It is. It really is. It's so exciting every day. Like, oh, you just don't know what you're going to get. You just. What's your favorite part about the whole process?

My favorite part is helping people. And then, like, I was the type that I didn't like to go pick up people because I just wasn't trained my supervisor didn't train me on doing pickups. But sometimes long as the pickup goes good, like I love that part. Like, you get this, your adrenaline goes up and you get this high. Like, oh, I got this. I got to get this person. And when you get them in handcuffs, you're like, oh, I do like a cheerleader type jump and all, oh, man, I put on a show. So that's kind of exciting to me. But I don't, I try to write the best bonds I can. So I don't have to be out in a field like that because you don't know people some people don't really want to go to prison so you might you know

you're risking your life so how do you think you like learned about you know if you have to go get somebody like where do you think your like skills developed like have you gotten better over the years of capturing them like was there a class that you took you know previous experience so I just have gotten better you know with the experience like one do ran ran under a house. And I wasn't expecting that. It was like a traffic failure to appear. And I'm like, dude, what are you doing? Like, he ran under the house. So we had to go under the house with our tasers and have our flashlights and stuff and drag him. Is it like an old wood frame house? Yeah, wood frame up. Yeah. And so I'm like, why did you do that? He's like, I don't know, miss. I should just

turn myself. I said, you know, this is my first time doing this, like running under a house. Like, I've never done this before so um but it was actually kind of fun and because once you get them in custody you're like it's like a relief like when these guys run from you did their that hurt their sentencing eventually like do they have they serve more time because because of that and they're running because they don't want to go to court like are are they running because one of these court dates they might just go ahead and book them straight from court to jail or what's why are they running they're trying to avoid sentencing like so so They know, they know, like, this court date is, like, going to be my sentence.

It's my sentence. And I'm going to go to court and go straight to jail after. They're going to take me. Custody at the, at the court. Yeah. And I don't want to do that yet. A lot of times they say they got to handle business outside and stuff like, in the state of Florida, once you're sentenced, do they allow you to turn yourself in at the prison sometimes?

Sometimes. Sometimes. Typically, they just bring in, right? Sometimes they allow them to do, handle their affairs, and then they have a certain date to turn themselves in. So I know a lot of federal. The federal cases are like that. State cases, typically when pre-trial and you accept the deal, they'll take you in a custody right there. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. What's the longest that somebody has been on the run? The longest for me has been eight months. Eight months. And this is the guys in Miami? No. Oh, yeah, the longest one in Miami.

I take that back. It is the ones in Miami. The year, it's a year and a half now. Yeah, I guess the one that's, but you captured the one eight months. Yeah, I captured that one. But the, yeah, these guys have been on the run for about 18 months. When you, when you bring them in to, you know, do you bring them to Orient County? Mm-hmm.

Okay. Whatever county I bonded them out of. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm in Hillsborough. Hillsborough, Orient County. Oron Road, Jail. So you bring them straight to the jail. Like when you walk in, like, how are the, are the, are the,

the deputies like cool with you they're just like you know hey what's going on oh yeah yeah you have a great relationship with them um but yeah we um walk them into the area where they book them and they get me you know take off my handcuffs and put their handcuffs on them and you know and yeah i have a great relationship with them the deputies at the jail so you said you had um seven million in liability right now how many people is that like i know it's probably but on average, like, how many people out of time are you kind of managing or kind of underbond or whatever it's called? Probably 500. Wow.

So how big is your team, like your internal team? So it's me and my son, and then the team that goes to help me is like probably five or six of them. Like five or six. Five or six, I don't go out every time. They don't go out every time. They don't go out. Yeah, yeah. Because sometimes you don't need that much manpower, you know.

But, yeah, it's just me and my son. We run our agency. And then the other Belmont agents that go out, they have their own agents, their own agencies. I mean. Right. So. So somebody else might call your son and say, hey, we've got to skip. Yep.

And he'll go out. And he'll just say, you know, hey, can you go with us? It's going to take probably a few hours. Or here, we know exactly where he is. Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And he will go and get people by himself.

I'm like, you can't do that. But he'll be like, Mom, my God. So what percentage of people are skipping out, you think? Like one or two percent? Yeah, one and two percent. People are going to go through the process, get their stuff over it, and be done with. So most of them, you probably do the initial deals, and then they're pretty much take care of themselves. They take care of themselves.

Yeah. A lot of them will get an attorney. And a lot of them are offered a deal And they take the deal And it's over Is there anything that any Like Is it everything

They're all different Like anybody you ever get And you always think to yourself You know this person This is a possible person That may take off The fentanyl cases And so that's why I don't even

Bond on fentanyl anymore Certain cases The U.S. Marshals are going to get involved Like if they've murdered somebody any violent type crimes, the U.S. marshal is going to help you find them. Right.

So. Or do the U.S. Marshals get involved? Like if they leave the state, if they know they've left the state? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They're going to get involved.

But in certain cases, they're going to help you. So I just had another big pickup but the bomb was $290,000. The U.S. marshals got her last week. Last week. Yeah, last week.

It was a DUI manslaughter case. And she ran. She was supposed to have ankle monitor. The jail failed to put the ankle monitor on her. And they were doing breathalizers with her. And she blew dirty, one of those tests. And so they ended up revoking her bond. And she was like, they scheduled a court day. And she's like, I'm not going. So she was on the run for like 50 days. She was on the run for 50 days. So the U.S. Marshall actually got her the other day. Thank God.

And how did they track her down? Just somebody, a tip? A tip? And then they had ways of pinging phones. And they got all type of stuff. find people yeah tracking people that you're around you know following people can be looking at you and following you don't even have a clue so it's all type of stuff out there it's it's really hard to be on the run I wouldn't want to be on the run because you can't live comfortable but yeah so like I said certain cases the U.S. marshals are going to help you fine so normally when we have cons or ex-criminal on the show, I asked them, like, what's their closest call, like, their closest escape? So on the flip side of that, have you had any, like, or what's like maybe your greatest escape

or someone who you're right there and they're able to get away? Like, so the guy that was, we were at the family dollar and he drove. Because you thought you had a boxed? Yeah, I thought I had a box. So it was just somebody, I had another guy with me, which was an intern, and he just left too, a little bit of too much space. You just would have blocked him in the way, you know. So, oh, my God, I was so livid because we should have got him that day. And so he was able to just drive in the little crack. And I'm like, wow.

So that was a lesson learned. You learn as you go. Right. Yeah, you learn as you go. So that was a kind of close call. Do you buy harder dealing with people that you knew previously? Yes, those are the worst. It's the people that you know.

No. Those are the problematic bonds, family and friends. You think because they feel like they can get over on you or that they... Yeah, like, oh, I know her, you know. So those are the worst. People that come to me that I don't have a clue who they are, those are the best bonds. But the people, my problematic bonds have been from people that have referred a bond to me and they were close to me. Those have been my problematic bonds. Were you born in Tampa?

I was born in Tampa. I lived in Bloomingdale, my whole life suburbs. Okay. Families from the hood, though. Okay. My dad just... Where? Like Progress Village area.

Like, I guess they consider it Riverview now. But my dad was the one that went and got a job and worked for Tico. My mom was a school teacher for 35 years. So I live in suburbs my whole life. But my family, they lived in the hood and we would go over there all the time. So that's where I get the little hoodish side of me from. Okay. I haven't seen that yet, but I'm sure it'll come out.

It'll come out. We got you anger yet. So, and, I mean, so like, did you, a lot of brothers, sisters? So I have a brother that passed away when I was 19 from cancer. And I have a sister. She lives in Houston, Texas now. Okay. And so it was just the three of us.

Where'd you go to high school? I went to Tampa Bay Tech. Okay. Yeah, Tampa Bay Tech. I graduated in 98. And college? I went to USF. Okay.

Me too. Oh, Bulls. Yeah. So I went to USF, and then I went back to school at Nova, Southeastern University for school psychology. Oh, okay. I mean, and to be what? To be a school psychologist. Okay.

Is that what you always wanted to do when you were growing up? up? No. I mean, of course you wanted to be an astronaut. Like, I wanted to be an astronaut, but you know, then I started doing math, and I was like, this is never going to happen. Right. But what did you originally want to do? So I really didn't have like any, it wasn't like a career that I wanted to do out there. And I like, oh, I really want to do this. I ended up getting married and having kids and my mom was a teacher. And I'm like, this is the best schedule for me with kids. I had three kids. So I became a school teacher. So as a teacher, everybody wanted to tell me all their problems. And so I'm like, hmm, maybe I need to go back to school and become a psychologist. So I went

back to school to school to psychologist and did that. So everybody could come and tell me their problems and I got paid a little bit more in the district. So then I just ended up working with all the at-risk individuals in the school district. So I'm like, I just have a knack of working with individuals that are challenging. So I ended up doing the school psychology. It was about six or seven years. And then just still wasn't making enough of money. I got a divorce, crazy divorce.

And I was raising three kids by myself. And I was working little part-time jobs as I worked in the school district. And I'm like, you know what? I am sick of working like this. So let me think of a plan You know So I'm like Let me just Google bell bonding

You know Why? How does that how Like how did you pull Bell bonding? Because I'm like It's got to be lucrative Because people go to jail every day

Yeah they're not They didn't everybody always ask like You don't you worry about Running out of content I'm like people aren't going to stop getting arrested They're not going to stop the crime It's getting worse Right

So I was like I was actually at my job at the school district. How do you become a bellbotsman? And so it's like two courses that you take and then you do an internship and I'm like, hmm, I can do that. I've got my master's degree, my specialist degree. I can do that. I can pass this. I miss a bellbott. Exactly. Exactly. They're not rocket. Exactly. So I go and I register for the course at HCC. And when I take the class, It's four weeks, and it's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, four weeks. And I'm like, oh, my God, I really like this stuff.

For what? For like an hour? Four, no, all day. It's like eight to five. Oh, okay. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And you're getting a whole lot of information, but, you know, it was wonderful. Class was amazing.

So you take that class, finish that, take a test, pass the test. Is it a state test? You do eventually take a state test. So that was just the classroom test for HCC. So then you have to take a online course at the University of Florida. So I took that as self-paced. Finish that in about two weeks. Took the test for that, passed that.

And then you have to do an internship. So you have to go and say, you know, seek a bell bondsman and say, hey, can I work up under you for a year? And a lot of them are like, no, because it's a very competitive field. Right. So it took me a long time to get it. internship. So probably about eight, nine months after I finished up every, the coursework, I landed an internship with a Bell Bondsman in Tampa, landed in Bell Bonds. Well, were you still working as a teacher? Yes. I was working as a school psychologist in the

district. Yeah, yep, I was working as a school psychologist as all of this was going on. So when I would get off of work, once I landed the internship, once I would get off of work from the district, I would go do my hours for Bellbonding. And I would work to probably about 10, 11 o'clock at night. And every day, just knocking out these hours, you need it 1,500 hours to complete your internship. Okay. So. But the guy you're under, he's the one who's signing off on whether you were there or not, right?

Yeah. He's the one who's saying, yeah, she's there from 5 to 7 to 8. Right. Exactly. Exactly. So she signs off at the end of the month or whatever. And your hours just start accumulating. So it took me about a year and a half to get my hours. So once that was done, you go take the time.

you go take the state test, wouldn't pass the state test, and then I became a licensed bell bondsman. How hard is a state test compared to the classroom tests? It was difficult. It's way more difficult than the classroom test. Plus, it's been 18 months. Exactly. I think I wouldn't remember anything in 18 months.

Exactly. So, yeah, so the state test is a lot more difficult. But thank God I had material study and was able to go ahead and pass. that, passed that test. And then I became licensed. And so I'm like, whoa, what do I do now? So I'm like, I know I didn't want to work with my supervisor anymore. Like, I just wanted to do my own thing. So, but I still needed to learn some things. So I went and worked for another Bell Bondsman right down the street from the jail, A1 rapid release. And they taught me different things that I didn't learn during my internship.

And so I'm rolling in the dough. Like, there's a lot of dough coming through. And I'm like, wow, I can do this myself. And then I can make all of this and no one getting a cut of my money. So I would post bonds at the jail. And I just started talking to other bell bondsmen. And I'm like, hey, how do I get connected with an insurance company? And I ran into the right guy.

And he gave me insurance companies information. If people want to find you, we can put, we'll put your, the link to your, do you have a website? I do. Okay, we'll put the link to the website and we're going to put the link to the Instagram. Yes. In the description box. Absolutely. And if you want, if you have an email or something like that, what they, how do people typically?

So a lot of people find me on Google and then they'll have the phone number and they'll call. What's the name? It's Duke's Bellbonds in South of Tampa. Okay. And we bond in Hillsborough County, Polk County, Pasco, Manatee, and Pinellas. And if you have any other counties in the state, we can bond as well. We could do something called a transfer bond. But a lot of people find me just by Google and Duke's Bell Bonds or Bell Bonds in the area.

And a lot of people will put like a form online and I'll respond back to the forms as well. But, yeah, Bellbonds in the area, and I'll pop up. Hey, thank you guys for watching. If you like the video, do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button, hit the bell so you get notified videos like this. Also, please consider joining my Patreon. Share the video, leave a comment, and check the description for all of those links that we just talked about. I really appreciate you guys watching.

Thank you very much. See you.