“You Can Mess With The Law, But Not with Bail Bondsman Zouvelos," Says TNH Journalist Report

Jan. 19, 2011 - PRLog -- NEW YORK, NY – In America, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty – but sometimes they have to put up some money to convince the courts to let them stay free until they’re tried, and that’s where bail bondsmen like George Zouvelos come in. If they can’t come up all the cash, he can – with some pretty tough conditions insuring he won’t lose money, and that sometimes lands them in jail anyway. Bail is the method by which American justice tries to reduce the chances that an innocent person will suffer time in prison. In New York and New Jersey, when the accused does not have enough money, they turn to bail bondsmen like Zouvelos, President and Chairman of http://www.NYPBA.net. For Zouvelos, as big and tough a guy as you’ll encounter in any Greek Orthodox Church on Sunday, that means a lot of potentially dangerous, or at least, angry and desperate people, innocent or not, have to be dealt with, along with the risk of losing the money they put up if the defendant fails to appear in court and the judge orders his the forfeit. “This is the riskiest business in the financial industry, because I invest in people, not the stock market, in people I don’t know and for very little money.”

The New York Times was neither impressed nor sympathetic to the methods he uses though, which it said sometimes puts people in jail instead of keeping them out. A January 9, 2011 NY Times article by John Eligon titled For Poor, Bail System Can Be An Obstacle to Freedom focused a harsh light on Zouvelos. “It is a process and an industry that seems to elude effective regulation,” said Timothy J. Murray, the Executive Director of the Pretrial Justice Institute, a Washington organization that advocates bail reform. “So much of the business transaction is not subject to the public view, nor to much in the way of scrutiny.” Zouvelos, however, says that his business philosophy in founded on transparency and informing the clients, the people who put up the bail in behalf of defendants. He says they have the responsibility of ensuring the accused comply with the two restrictions imposed by judges: don’t leave the state, live a law-abiding life. When they violate those conditions, the bail is forfeited, putting the bondsman at financial risk, and when he has reason to believe violations will occur, he sends out bounty hunters to brings them back to jail. The thrust of the Times article is that the reasons can be vague or non-existent. Zouvelos says they are based on the realities of his profession.

THE FINE PRINT
The article begins with a description of a reasonable practice that sounds like an indictment: “Before George Zouvelos agrees to post someone’s bail, a customer must put up cash, sign a 20-page contract and initial 86 separate paragraphs.” Zouvelos’s response is: “And by the time I die there’ll be another 20 because every day something comes up that the client should know about,” adding that “The contact is made to inform and educate.” If, for example, the defendant’s father, does not have moral suasion over his son, “That you can convince him with a phone call,” to do the right thing, he does not take the money. “I don’t set up people for failure, but for success.

I give them the rules beforehand in the contract,” explaining that he and the client are partners with the same goal of ensuring the defendant complies with the court. What Zouvelos charges when the defendant is returned are the fees spelled out in those 89 paragraphs, the costs of sending out bounty hunters he contracts with to track down defendants who are a risk, he says.

The main source of income for the bondsman is the premium, which is paid up front. New York State’s premiums are among the lowest in the U.S. and range from 6-10% depending on size of bond. The bondsman determines what the security deposit should be. When he places a lien on a house, it’s for the bond, plus 15% bounty hunting fees – which are assessed only if the contract is violated – and 33% for attorney costs if he has to foreclose on the house. “For other bondsmen, it is an opportunity, but I have never taken a house,” Zouvelos told TNH. Asked about the motivation for the article being so critical, he said the Times is on a misguided crusade to get the State to change the laws regulating his industry and they are focusing on him because Spartan is one of the largest firms and one of the biggest advertisers among a relatively small number of firms in the state. And because as the President and founder of The NY State Professional Bail Bondsman, he leads the fight against changes that he said he believes will damage not only his livelihood, but handcuff an industry that saves taxpayers millions of dollars, because if bondsmen and the bounty hunters don’t do their job, risking their lives and capital, law enforcements officers on overtime will have to.

BACK TO JAIL
Zouvelos says 89 people he returned to jail came over one year period, not four months as The Times wrote, and that the actions led to a substantial reduction in bail that was forfeited. And the point of all his efforts he says, is to reduce the risk of forfeiture. “With 93 percent of people out on bail, we never have a problem and we never keep a nickle – innocent or guilty. The bond is not contingent on his innocence or guilt, only his court attendance and following the contract.” If they do that, the collateral is released and all Spartan keeps is the premium. “The Times didn’t say that,” Zouvelos said. Zouvelos explained he does not benefit from sending people back to jail because he has to pay his bounty hunters for that, three or four bounty hunters to bring someone in safely. “We’ve never had a complaint that we hurt anyone,” he told TNH. He doesn’t deny bail bondsmen abuse the system, but he added it’s often the hunters are the ones that must be reined in, saying that the bounty hunters will bring 40 files of people to surrender but typically he sends back only two. “I do not revoke bail if he follows the rules,” he said, adding that he gives them many more than three strikes. The article noted that since 2005, at the NY State Insurance Dept. which licenses bondsmen, there were 60 complaints against Zouvelos and Spartan Bail Bonds, an average of about 12 per year, which Zouvelos says is a small amount given that his company handles about 800 bonds per year. He gets his clients mainly through referrals from attorneys who trust him and respect his character, he said.
Zouvelos said he believes part of the complaints stem from the Manhattan District Attorney’s being angry at him for criticisms. “In 2008 I pointed a finger at the (Manhattan DA’s) office that 48 percent or so of all arrests” had their cases dismissed and sealed. “Does that mean 48 percent of the time your arrests were bad in Manhattan,” wasting taxpayer money for overtime and clogging the court system.

He told TNH that he is being punished for being outspoken, adding, and “Because I am a big pundit, and critic of injustice, they decided to squeeze me.” Zouvelos says his practices are transparent, and soundly founded on law. “Don’t come to me now New York Times and ask why the law is what it says. I’m not a lawmaker, I’m following the law.” He says there are Federal guidelines and century-old court cases written by people who understand that their unique responsibilities and risks justify their practices, citing a Taylor v. Tainter (1872).

Zouvelos, who also puts life and limb in the line as a master bounty hunter, has a thick skin. He is resigned to the social costs of his profession. “If you are a drug dealer,” he told TNH, “and you hang out with Harvard graduates, you are a Harvard graduate,” and vice versa, “but because we associate with criminals doesn’t mean we are criminals. Jesus spent his time with the people society condemned.”

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In modern times Bail Bondsmen have been called many things by some very powerful people. Bondsmen have been called tawdry, odorous, overzealous and opportunist among many other not so nice things. The Bail bondsmen here in New York State need to provide a ‘little perspective’ to the public, and to those who claim to represent or regulate laws; sometimes not necessarily in fairness or even in the spirit of the law. As president of the NYPBA, I George Zouvelos will attempt to provide that perspective. In recent times some have decided to stand in harsh judgment over those of us who are bail bondsmen. Bail Bondsmen everywhere have voluntarily chosen a professional that serves society in a not so popular way, while earning an uncertain living that places us directly in the urban, suburban and rural foxholes of American society. When others have abandoned them, bail bondsmen are in fact the only real assistance the poor and working class Americans.