Stanislaus sheriff’s officer testifies at bail bond misconduct hearing [The Modesto Bee]

Dec. 21--MODESTO -- An alleged victim in a case of kidnapping for extortion told investigators he was handcuffed to a pole in the basement of a Modesto bail bonds business and left there in the dark for four hours because he wasn't able to make payments.

That's what Benjamin Campbell told Stanislaus County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Gonzales about what happened to him at AJ's Bail Bonds after employees from the business picked him up at the courthouse.

"He said he was behind on payments (owed to AJ's Bail Bonds)," Gonzales testified Thursday in a preliminary hearing for Aleo John Pontillo, owner of the Modesto bail bonds business.

Pontillo is accused of handcuffing clients for hours at the Yosemite Boulevard business until they paid what was owed.

During cross-examination, Gonzales said Campbell was not handcuffed at the courthouse or when the bail bonds employees drove him back to the business. He said Pontillo threatened Campbell.

"Told him he would be locked up in the basement," Gonzales testified.

The sheriff's sergeant said Campbell was then handcuffed in the basement. He was ordered to make a call to obtain the money owed to AJ's Bail Bonds, but he wasn't able to get any money.

After being held at the business from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Campbell was taken to jail.

During cross-examination, Gonzales said Campbell never reported to authorities that he was victimized. He said he never looked at any bail files, including Campbell's bail agreement, in his investigation.

When asked if Campbell was out of compliance on other aspects of his bail agreement, such as failing to update his home address and phone number, Gonzales answered, "I couldn't tell you."

Gonzales didn't know if Campbell had multiple failures to appear in court before he was held at AJ's Bail Bonds in 2006. He said Campbell, who couldn't give investigators an exact date of the incident at the bail bonds business, had a wide variety of criminal charges in his background.

Suspects in fraud

Authorities allege that Pontillo and his office manager, Janelle Marie Llorens, were responsible for the kidnappings. A bail agent from the business, Mark David Davis, is suspected of conspiring with Pontillo and Llorens to steal more than $250,000 from the county by submitting fraudulent bail bond claims.

The three co-defendants also are accused of insurance fraud on suspicion of making false statements to the court or a public official for the purpose of preventing forfeiture of bail and having set aside a forfeiture.

Steven Jacobson, an investigator with the Stanislaus County district attorney's office, testified Thursday that he discovered false statements in the court-submitted documents.

He said he discovered the discrepancies in the documents Davis filed with the court. Jacobson testified that he didn't suspect the court or a clerk had caused the discrepancies after he reviewed court transcripts.

Frank Carson, Pontillo's defense attorney, asked Jacobson if he had a grudge against Pontillo, who had been calling him names. The investigator testified he thought he and the defendant had a cordial interaction during a search of the bail bonds business. "Since then, he's held some animosity toward me," Jacobson said. "He (Pontillo) stated that I was a Nazi."

The investigator said he was bothered by the name-calling but that it didn't make much of a difference to him. He said Pontillo also would call him "Juice," alleging Jacobson used steroids.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dave Harris objected to Carson's questions, arguing they were irrelevant to the preliminary hearing. Judge Scott Steffen allowed the questions, agreeing with Carson that it called into question the potential bias of the witness.

Testimony in Pontillo's preliminary hearing will continue Jan. 2 in Stanislaus County Superior Court. A preliminary hearing for Llorens and Davis is scheduled for Feb. 25.

rahumada@modbee.com or (209) 578-2394.

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