Is Bonding Somebody Out of Jail a Probation Violation
My question involves criminal law for the state of: Texas
By signing my brothers bond and bonding him out of jail am I in violation of my probation? He is a convicted felon and I know there are rules about that but can signing his bond alone be enough to violate me? I am on a very strict probation and am getting off soon, but the bondsman knows that I have been worried about this since first posting the bond. I expressed to the bondsman many times that I was on probation and didn't want to get in trouble and he assured me that probation would not know. I even took someone with me and offered to have them sign the bond, but he would not let them and told me I had to.
My brother went to court and was arrested before paying the remaining balance owed to the bondsman and now I have been receiving calls saying that I am responsible for the balance since I am the one who signed it. He even said "if I don't want to get in trouble with my probation that I need to come in and make a payment."
I have always thought that since my brother went to court the bondsman received all of his money back anyways. So the $800 we paid him was just money that he made. Not to mention that after my brother was arrested I found out that the bondsman went off his bond as well.
Re: Am I in Violation of Mt Probation
You really should only start one thread. If your probation terms say stay away from other criminals, then you likely did violate it if you associated with your brother (other than just signing his bond).
And yes, you OWE the bondsman. As soon as he put his collateral up against your brother, you owed the fee.