Thread: Burned bondsman won't spring risky immigrants

Burned bondsman won't spring risky immigrants
Grumpy's says those without papers will have to remain behind bars
By MITCHELL KLINE • Staff Writer • April 24, 2008


FRANKLIN — Leah Hulan has decided not to take certain risks in what she calls a "risky business."

Hulan, owner of Grumpy's Bail Bonding, will no longer post bail to allow undocumented immigrants to get out of jail. Her mind was made up after losing $100,000 when she posted a bond for a Mexican man who disappeared.


Salvio Garcia Diaz was accused of driving with 17.5 grams of methamphetamine and charged with intent to sell or deliver a controlled substance. Diaz was supposed to appear in court on Sept. 9, 2004, but he never showed up.

Hulan and her husband, Kevin Davis — the recovery agent in this family business — said they thought Diaz was dead. They obtained a death certificate from Mexico and presented it to prosecutors and a judge. Investigators last year determined that the document was a fake.

Prosecutors said that because of this case, they would take a closer look at Mexican death certificates and require more proof before agreeing to release bail-bonding companies from their obligations to the court. Deputy District Attorney Derek Smith said a court-appointed translator would contact the Mexican government to determine the legitimacy of any death certificate presented to the court.

"In the future, we will learn from our mistakes and demand better evidence as to whether those death certificates are fraudulent," Smith said. "We've had thousands of cases where defendants failed to appear. This was the only case we had where a death certificate was not genuine. It's a rarity, but something we will learn from."

Company makes pledge
Bail bonding companies assume a financial risk when they agree to pay the amount set by a judge if the person they bail out of jail doesn't show up to court. Most bonding companies in Williamson County don't bail out people who can't prove they are in the country legally. Bail bondsmen say it's too much of a risk to put up money for a person who can't easily be traced or may end up leaving the country.

"We will not get out undocumented citizens anymore," Hulan said, "and that is a problem for taxpayers,"

It's a problem because county taxpayers end up footing the bill to keep these people at the county jail. Since July 1, 2007, more than 620 people who lacked proof of American citizenship were booked there. It costs approximately $63 a day to keep someone at the jail, according to Capt. Mike Dobbins.

Smith said there's no reason to believe Hulan or her husband intentionally presented a false death certificate.

"I don't believe Grumpy's knew it was fake," Smith said. "There's no evidence of that. They hired a bounty hunter and something went amiss."

Davis said Diaz made it to "eight or nine" court appearances then "got scared." Diaz was scheduled to go to trial but failed to appear in court. Grumpy's was given six months to find him before court officials would call for the $100,000 bond they posted.

"We were always about three months behind him," Davis said.

Deception runs deep. Hulan and Davis got information that Diaz had fled to Mexico. They hired a private investigator from Texas to look for him. The private investigator, Joe Gonzalez, said he located a relative of Diaz who told him the man he was looking for had been murdered. Gonzalez said he picked up the death certificate and mailed it to Davis.

Court officials didn't question the document when Hulan presented it to them on May 4, 2005. Prompted by speculation from a television reporter, prosecutors took a closer look at the death certificate. On October 25, 2007, Smith wrote that there was no reliable evidence to prove Salvio Diaz was dead.

Investigator Barry Carroll worked with a certified court interpreter to contact the Mexican government about the death certificate. In a report he noted that the town where Diaz was allegedly stabbed had no records about the homicide. The document indicated the deceased person was less than a day old and weighed only 240 grams. The fraudulent certificate stated that Diaz was married to a Juan Reyes, and included inaccurate numbers and codes.

Grumpy's paid the Williamson County Circuit Court $100,000 on Nov. 5. The money has been given to the Sheriff's Office to use for drug enforcement, education and treatment.

As to the whereabouts of Diaz, Hulan and her husband have a theory.

"He had a co-defendant that was allowed out of jail on the same charge," Hulan said. "He was let out on his own recognizance. He was allegedly murdered in Oklahoma. We chased Salvio out of Tennessee, up to Wisconsin and down to Mexico. I'm thinking the same people who murdered his co-defendant murdered him.

"I do believe Salvio is dead."

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 2/COUNTY07

Illegal immigrants should not be allowed bail--they are flight risks.

Minimally, if released they need to be electronically monitored.

Her mind was made up after losing $100,000 when she posted a bond for a Mexican man who disappeared.

I would suspect ANY document from Mexico as being fake. The country is steeped in corruption from the President all the way down to the police and we wonder why Mexican illegals act the way they do? They learned from the people in power!