Sneaky Pete question - how does bail work? (spoilers in tag, but really, the entire question is a spoiler)

Cafe Society
1

OK, in the Amazon show Sneaky Pete (S1), there is this situation where

A client is released on bail for $150,000. In the show, this money is kept in a safe in the bail bondsman office and the accused is set free until trial. Situations happen, and the $150k is removed from the safe, which is causing a big to-do because when the trial ends, the $150k needs to be returned to the family.

But… from what I understand (theoretical, not practical, lol), this isn’t how bail works at all.

Here’s my understanding of the process:

If I’m imprisoned and my family needs $150k, and we can get a bail bondsman (BB) to bond me @ 10%, my family would put up $15k, the BB would put up $135k, and this money gets deposited with the authorities, and I get released.

When I show up for trial (or when the trial concludes), the BB gets $150k back, keeping the $15k my family put up.

But in this show, all $150k is sitting in a safe in the BB office. Is this how it actually works? Why would the (let’s assume) county take the BB’s word that there is $150k in cash in a safe which the BB would then give the county in case I skip bail?

This is really confusing, so either my understanding is incorrect (likely) or the show writer’s understanding is incorrect (unlikely… I assume).

The only way this can make some possible sense is that since the suspect showed up on day 1 of the trial, the BB gets the money… but they’re holding it in reserve in case the guy skips town and the BB needs to give the money back to the authorities. (However, in-show, it’s stated repeatedly that the money went missing long before the trial started, so this doesn’t really work either.)

Note: This situation is happening in Bridgeport, CT, if that matters.

What do I have wrong about this?

2

In general, you are correct. If someone could put up the $150,000 by themselves, they would pay it to the court, and then get all of it back. IIRC, there is sometimes a modest processing fee.

In general TV , especially a “comedy crime drama”, or any sitcom- plays fast and loose with the law.

3

IMO, it’s never unlikely that a movie/TV show got the facts wrong, either through sloppy or nonexistent research or not considering realism and accuracy dramatic enough.

I’d question keeping that much cash on the premises, given the clientele. Banks are a thing for a reason.

4

As a general thought, I did not like the first 3 episodes at all, but it has gotten much better.

5

Close. Your family pays a 10% fee to the bail bondsman. That money is gone.The bail bondsman post a bond to the court for the $150,000. If you don’t show up, the Court collects on the Bond and the bondsman comes looking for you.

6

A bail company doesn’t usually provide any money at all. I get arrested on a charge. My bail is $150K and is permitted to be a surety bond. I find a bondsman and he wants $15K from me. He probably also wants a co-signer and some kind of guarantee on property, vehicles, or some other asset. The bondsman then issues a bond to the court promising to pay them if I skip or fail to appear. Either way, he keeps the $15K as his fee. Generally no cash at all involved.

There are variations on this process, but I’ve had two family members released on bond and this is how it worked in both cases.

7

Thinking more about it, I can imagine a scenario where you would give the entire $150 thousand to the bondsman as collateral. They probably ask less questions about where the cash came from then the court might.

8

This is exactly the scenario in the TV show. Criminal doesn’t want to pay anything or attract court/IRS scrutiny as to where the money came from. So he goes to bail bondsman and puts up the entire $150k in cash as collateral for a surety rather than a bond, expecting to get 100% of it back.

Sneaky Pete is a decent show. Not ground-breaking or awesome, but entertaining.

9

He’ll get most of it back, but there will still be some fee for the bond.

When I did criminal defense work, we would sometimes have clients pay us in cash. We had to file the IRS form if it exceeded $10,000. I wonder the bondsman has to if they’re just keeping it as collateral.

10

Ahhhh, OK, now it makes sense. My only experience with how this works is from TV shows like Better Call Saul, which also had a bail plotline.

Appreciate it! And thanks to @Procrustus for answering-before-asked my next question (regarding fees).

11

I believe (could be misremembering) this was very much an under-the-table deal where the court wasn’t informed of jack :slightly_smiling_face:. This is a criminal-centric TV drama where the bail bond business owners and their family are very much central supporting characters. Without spoiling too much, one can expect…extenuating plot circumstances.