Thread: Family lost money to bail-bonds specialist SOB

Family lost money to bail-bonds specialist

$1,300 paid in an effort to free illegal immigrant

By Leslie Berestein (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. March 9, 2009

When Jesús Ochoa called Catholic Charities last month in hopes of finding a professional who could help his girlfriend's brother, who was being held at an immigrant-detention center, he didn't expect to be referred to a bail-bonds specialist.

Nor did he expect the bail-bonds specialist, who promised to have the brother released in two days, to stop returning the family's calls after family members wired $1,300 to the specialist. A month later, his girlfriend's brother is still in custody, awaiting a hearing. He was never eligible for bond in the first place.

Immigrants and their families are routinely gouged by rogue notaries and fake consultants, often with the promise of obtaining visas or legal status that never materializes.

The way in which Ochoa's girlfriend, Irma Ceja, and her San Diego family lost their money is new but not surprising. With a daily average of more than 31,000 immigrants in detention around the United States, their families are ripe for exploitation.

Officials from Catholic Charities in San Diego, which normally limits its referral list to attorneys, acknowledge that a volunteer made a mistake. Nonetheless, the money appears to be gone.

“For a lot of people, $1,300 isn't much,â€

And, we're supposed to what? Feel sorry for people who played this nation for suckers now that they've been suckered?? aaahahahahaha!!!