Bail Bonds

A fugitive wanted for a June 2010 homicide in the city of Palmdale was returned to the U.S. today following her capture in Belize, announced Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Sheriff Leroy Baca with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Larene Eleanor Austin, 29, of the Antelope Valley, was taken into custody without incident on January 25, 2012 in the country of Belize. Austin was returned to the United States, via Houston, Texas, earlier today.

According to investigators, Austin allegedly murdered Lanell Barsock on June 16, 2010 and reported the murder to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in Palmdale, California. Investigators allege that Austin attempted to frame the victim’s boyfriend for the murder.

After further investigation by homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the focus of the investigation shifted to Austin as the main suspect in the homicide. A warrant charging Austin with one count of murder was issued by the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles.

When Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives determined that Austin had fled the state of California, detectives requested assistance from the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force, and publicized the case on the television program, America’s Most Wanted (AMW).

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives received a tip after the AMW program aired a story about the murder over the 2011 Christmas holiday. The tip indicated Austin was living in the Central American country of Belize. After further investigation, Sheriff’s detectives determined the tip was credible and shared it with members of the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles.

A federal warrant charging Austin with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP) was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on December 29th, 2011.

The Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles contacted the FBI’s Legal Attaché in San Salvador, which covers Belize and other Central American countries, to further investigate the tip.

Officers with the Belize Police Department working with FBI agents in Central America arrested Austin yesterday in the Toledo District of Belize without incident.

Earlier today, Austin was expelled from the country of Belize and was flown to Houston, Texas, under the escort of FBI agents assigned to the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador.

In Houston, Austin was turned over to the custody of homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Austin is expected to make an initial appearance in Superior Court in Houston, Texas, and is expected to be transferred to Los Angeles in the near future.

It is anticipated that the United States government will dismiss the federal warrant charging Austin with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and Austin will remain in custody while she awaits prosecution for the state murder charges by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The successful arrest and return of Austin was based on cooperation among the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; the FBI’s Legal Attaché assigned to the United States Embassy in San Salvador; the Belize Police Department; the Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles, which includes members from the FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department; and agents with the FBI’s Houston Field Office.

Now that the fugitive is back in custody, the judge has to determine the bail amount. Our Palmdale Bail Bonds office believes that the judge will just rule out all bail. This is because the defendant already shows the willingness to flee the country and obviously has ties to other countries. In the rare chance that the judge allows the defendant to have bail, the amount would probably be so high that the defendant wouldn’t be able to come up with the amount. For instance in this case, $2M would sound right.

The return of Austin was funded by the United States government’s “Project Welcome Home,” which provides funding to assist in the transportation of federal fugitives to the United States, where the repatriation by the host country occurs through deportation or extradition.

The FBI continues to work with local law enforcement to apprehend violent criminals charged with state crimes who then flee the jurisdiction interstate or internationally. Photos and descriptions of many fugitives wanted by the FBI can be found at www.fbi.gov.

Los Angeles: On November 30, 2011, a civil judgment was issued against Michael Mersola, in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The action was the result of a criminal investigation against Mersola in 2007, resulting in a conviction of Mersola in July 2008.

In 2007, members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Human Trafficking Section were requested to assume investigative responsibilities in an investigation of pimping, pandering, and bribery of a witness and sexual assault. The three victims in this matter were all under the age of 18.

Immediately after the guilty conviction in criminal court, one of the victims filed a civil lawsuit against Mersola.

A jury of 12 people was impaneled and sworn to hear the civil case. After hearing the evidence and arguments of counsel, the jury was instructed by the Court and the case was submitted to the jury. The jury returned a special verdict of negligence, emotional distress, outrageous conduct and sexual battery.

Mersola was held responsible for his treatment of the victim and she was awarded $250,000.

The judgment against Mersola is one of the first of its’ kind where a victim of pimping, pandering and sexual battery was awarded a cash judgment against an assailant.

The Los Angeles Police Department Human Trafficking Section is a part of the FBI’s Innocence Lost National Initiative. The task forces were formed to address the growing problem of commercial sexual exploitation of children through prostitution in the United States. Since its inception, the initiative has resulted in the development of 44 dedicated task forces and working groups throughout the United States, involving federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. To date, these groups have worked successfully to rescue more than 1,800 children.

Investigations have successfully led to the conviction of over 800 pimps, madams, and their associates who exploit children through prostitution. These convictions have resulted in lengthy sentences, including multiple life sentences, as well as the seizure of real property, vehicles, and monetary assets. All of the victims in these crimes were under the age of 18. The investigation is on-going.

Our Los Angeles Bail Bonds office get’s a few calls a day regarding pimping and prostitution. They call from the Los Angeles Jail asking for bail. Its a sad world that most of them are in. Although it should be said that a majority of them are there because they want to be not because they are being forced by the big hand of a pimp. Its a true shame that there are underaged girls getting pimped out anywhere. They should be in highschool studying to be in college. They should be holding hands with their first boyfriend. Not walking the streets getting bullied by some criminal.

Anyone with further information regarding this matter is asked to call the Innocence Lost Task Force Hotline at (800) 655-4095. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247). Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800) 222-8477. Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

This case is just amazing so we thought we’d publish it. This guy Dresher must have been one of the best salesmen ever to blatenly put up a magic trick to 50 people. Our bail bonds company has never seen such an amazing story as this. Well, until Maydoff and others from Wallstreet came out. The other thought is that, if you had friends with this kind of money, why not just get their money legally. Become an investor, or actually run a real business? I guess he didn’t have a real exit strategy for his business.

A man who allegedly took at least $10 million from victims—including friends and family members—who thought they were financing a wholesale business that distributed NASCAR merchandise pleaded not guilty this morning to federal fraud charges and late today was ordered held without bond.

Eliott Jay Dresher, 63, of Chatsworth, was arraigned this morning in United States District Court in Los Angeles after being indicted December 4 by a federal grand jury. The indictment alleges four counts of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. The indictment additionally seeks the forfeiture of ill-gotten gains that Dresher allegedly received as a result of a scheme that he ran for about 10 years.

According to the indictment, Dresher solicited money from investors with promises that their money would be used to finance a business in which Dresher purchased NASCAR apparel and sold the merchandise to “big box” stores such as Costco. As part of his scheme, Dresher guaranteed substantial monthly returns, typically between 20 percent and 25 percent every six months. However, the indictment alleges, Dresher did not really operate such a business and all of the funds paid to investors were “Ponzi” payments that came from the victims’ principal investments.

Dresher’s scheme collapsed last year when he was unable to make payments to investors. At this point, according to the indictment, Dresher lulled his victims by falsely telling them that he had more than $70 million in various bank accounts, but he was having difficulty accessing the funds, so he had hired two attorneys to get the investors’ money back from one of the banks.

The indictment alleges that Dresher caused approximately 50 victims to invest at least $10 million with him, most of which was ultimately lost.

Dresher was initially charged in a criminal complaint filed in federal court on October 16. Federal authorities took custody of Dresher on November 19, and after appearing in federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada, he was returned to Los Angeles, where a United States

Magistrate Judge ordered him held without bond. Following a hearing late this afternoon, another Magistrate Judge determined that Dresher was a flight risk and ordered him detained pending trial.

At this morning’s arraignment, Dresher’s case was assigned to United States District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez, who scheduled a trial for January 26.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.

The case against Dresher was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service.

Los Angeles: Multi-agency tactical exercises are to be conducted during evening hours around the downtown area January 22-26, 2012.

The Los Angeles Police Department will be providing support for a joint military training exercise in and around the great Los Angeles area. This will be routine training conducted by military personnel, designed to ensure the military’s ability to operate in urban environments, prepare forces for upcoming overseas deployments, and meet mandatory training certification requirements.

This training has been coordinated with local authorities and owners of the training sites. The training sites have been carefully selected to ensure the event does not negatively impact the citizens of Los Angeles and their daily routines.

Lastly, safety precautions have been taken to prevent risk to the general public and the military personnel involved.

As such, this training is not open to the public.

The FBI and San Diego Sheriff’s Department are seeking the public’s assistance to identify a man who robbed the Pacific West Bank, 9955 Mission Gorge Road, Santee, California, on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.

Pacific West Bank Robber

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, at approximately 10:45 a.m., an unknown male entered the Pacific Western Bank, 9955 Mission Gorge Road, Santee, California, and robbed one of the tellers after making a verbal demand for money. The robber told the teller that he had a gun and would shoot the teller if he/she would not give him any money. The teller complied with the robber’s demand and provided him with a sum of money. The robber walked out of the bank and was last seen entering the passenger side of a maroon colored full size truck with no tailgate. No weapon was seen and no injuries reported.

The robber is described as follows:

Sex: Male
Race: White
Age: Approximately 40 years old
Height: Approximately 6’0” tall
Build: Medium
Hair: Dark
Clothing: Dark baseball cap, orange button down shirt, and dark waist length jacket

The bail for someone who robs a bank can be anywhere from $25K to $1M. It all depends on what happened in the robbery. Did the suspect use a gun? Did it look like he was brandishing a gun? Did he use force and so on. The bail bonds process is the same for almost any defendant who is in jail. If they want to work with a bail bonds company, they need 10% of the total bail. This is the bail bonds company’s fee for putting up the amount of bail and being responsible for it. The rest of the bail bonds process is mostly paperwork.

Anyone with information concerning this robbery should contact the FBI at telephone number (858) 565-1255 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477. You may remain anonymous by calling the FBI or Crime Stoppers.