Bondsman stole payments, inmates freed on invalid bonds

May 23--CLINTON -- A Knoxville woman who allegedly pocketed bond payments made on behalf of criminal defendants who were then freed from jail on fraudulent bonds faces arraignment next week, on Friday, in Anderson County Criminal Court.

A dozen defendants with lengthy rap sheets and charged with crimes ranging from especially aggravated robbery to aggravated assault were released from jail on invalid bonds, officials said.

Relatives of those defendants whose bond payments were allegedly stolen include two grandmothers, two mothers, a girlfriend and two spouses, records show.

Defendant Lena Graves Nail, 41, also allegedly ripped off the Knoxville bonding company that employed her and the insurance firm that underwrote the bonds.

The incidents occurred between July 2011 and September 2012 and involved fraudulent bond papers submitted to the Anderson County Jail by Nail.

"As you might imagine, this presented a crisis for the criminal justice system," Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark said. "Had it gone public, we could have had defendants abscond, knowing there wasn't a valid bond."

"We tried to resolve these cases with just outcomes before the defendants knew there wasn't a valid bond."

Clark said most of the cases involving the 12 defendants have been resolved, "or there are new charges against the defendant."

Clark's office quietly investigated the case, along with the state's Department of Commerce and Insurance Division, which assessed a $100,000 civil penalty against Nail for 50 violations of the Tennessee Insurance Law. The division also revoked Nail's insurance license.

The Anderson County grand jury returned a 25-count indictment against Nail in October 2013, but she remained on the lam until her arrest last month. She is free on a $75,000 bond posted by the All American Bail bonding company.

Nail is charged with theft of over $60,000, 12 counts of official misconduct and 12 counts of criminal simulation.

Nail was hired as a bail bonds agent by Renegade Bonding Company of Knoxville in January 2011, according to the state Insurance Division's notice of default and initial order against her.

Lexington National Insurance Corp. of Maryland underwrites bail bonds made by Renegade bonding agents. The insurer required a 10 percent cash payment of the total bond before securing it.

According to the division's order, Nail "intentionally misrepresented" bond amounts in some instances.

In the bond paperwork, the top page of several pages showed the power of attorney limits for varying bond amounts, the order states.

But Nail turned in an underlying page at the jail that didn't list power of attorney limits. For instance, she provided paperwork to secure a $25,000 bond, but the power of attorney limit was for a $5,500 bond.

In another instance, Nail allegedly kept $1,300 from a defendant's mother to secure a $250,000 bond, when she should have received $25,000 as the bond payment. Again, she presented paperwork intended for a bond not to exceed $5,500.

She's accused of keeping $10,000 paid by a defendant's girlfriend to secure his release, and stealing $1,800 paid by a defendant's grandmother to make the grandson's $100,000 bond. In the second instance, $10,000 should have been paid.

Neither Renegade nor Lexington National Insurance received their shares of bond premiums, according to state insurance records.

The state order says Nail used "fraudulent, coercive, or dishonest practices, or demonstrated incompetence, untrustworthiness or financial responsibility" by securing bonds under false pretenses and not collecting the proper bond premiums.

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