One of the city's most lucrative bail bond companies is on trial in Baltimore Circuit Court, and testimony in the obstruction-of-justice case could shed light on an industry that some public officials are trying to reform.
Milton Tillman Jr., his son, Milton Tillman III, and Bernard Dixon are accused of conspiring to use the same properties to post bonds for multiple defendants. The Tillmans own 4 Aces Bail Bonds, and Dixon is one of the state-licensed bondsmen they employ.
The trial, which began yesterday and is expected to last several weeks, could reveal loopholes in the bail system that allow dangerous defendants to remain free while awaiting trial. Scheduled to testify are court commissioners who set bail and accept bonds, other bondsmen and possibly judges.
"You'll hear about a scheme that has been operating for years," Assistant State's Attorney Elizabeth A. Ritter told jurors in her opening statement. The Tillmans' firm, she said, figured out "how to get people out of jail, legally and illegally."
Each defendant is charged with seven counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and could be sentenced to as much as 35 years in prison if convicted. Dixon and the younger Tillman also are charged with perjury, which carries an additional 10-year sentence.
Defense attorneys for the Tillmans and Dixon say the three are hardworking businessmen who have done nothing illegal. But then 4 Aces "started making more money than anyone else in the city," said A. Dwight Pettit, the elder Tillman's attorney.
"What happens when that happens?" Pettit asked during opening statements. "It's time to investigate. He's got to be doing something wrong because he's making too much money."
Pettit and defense attorneys for Dixon and Tillman's son said envious bondsmen reported false allegations to police and prosecutors eager to reform the system.
Pettit acknowledged problems with the bail bond industry, calling it "arbitrary and capricious."
"The thing about it is, there weren't any rules," he told jurors. The only abiding principle, he said, is that "you'll make money if you do things the right way."
Opening statements spanned about 90 minutes, and the testimony from the first witness, a District Court commissioner, was cluttered with objections - sometimes in unison - from the defense lawyers.
It was a preview of what promises to be a tangle of a trial in many ways. The defense attorneys - Pettit, Edward Smith Jr. and Steven A. Allen - have a century's worth of combined legal experience.
