Bondsman

Baltimore bail bondsman Milton Tillman III, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to charges he defrauded the Treasury Department, lied on tax returns and permitted a prohibited person, his father, to participate in the insurance business through a type of bond guarantee. His father, Milton Tillman Jr., who was indicted alongside his son in February, was scheduled to be arraigned this week, but his attorney Billy Murphy was held up in New Orleans. Tillman Jr.'s arraignment on charges he defrauded Ports of America Baltimore Inc., by allegedly saying he worked more than he did, as well as the Treasury Department, by claiming he made less than he did, has been rescheduled to April 2. Tillman Jr. also faces charges of filing false tax returns, wire fraud and illegally engaging in the insurance business through 4 Aces Bail Bonds.

Baltimore -- The Greatest City in America, The City That Reads and Believes and Gets In On It -- might want to try on another civic slogan. This one was crafted by city bail bondsman Mark J. Adams, who writes: "A couple of years ago, the idiots who run conventions and tourism in Baltimore hired an outside firm to come up with a slogan to promote Baltimore. They spent a fortune with some out-of-town company that came up with the slogan, 'Baltimore: Get in on it.' "I had my own slogan that they didn't quite accept.

Baltimore -- The Greatest City in America, The City That Reads and Believes and Gets In On It -- might want to try on another civic slogan. This one was crafted by city bail bondsman Mark J. Adams, who writes: "A couple of years ago, the idiots who run conventions and tourism in Baltimore hired an outside firm to come up with a slogan to promote Baltimore. They spent a fortune with some out-of-town company that came up with the slogan, 'Baltimore: Get in on it.' "I had my own slogan that they didn't quite accept.

Baltimore's biggest bail bondsman will plead guilty in a federal tax fraud and conspiracy case next week as part of a deal that spares his namesake son — and co-defendant — jail time and a felony record, which means the younger man can likely stay in the bond business. Milton Tillman Jr., 54, of Four Aces Bail Bonds Inc. was arrested alongside his son in March on a 28-count indictment charging the elder man with under-representing his earnings as a bail bondsman and over-representing the hours he worked as a longshoreman, along with wire fraud, filing false tax returns and illegally engaging in the insurance business.

Baltimore bail bondsman Milton Tillman III, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to charges he defrauded the Treasury Department, lied on tax returns and permitted a prohibited person, his father, to participate in the insurance business through a type of bond guarantee. His father, Milton Tillman Jr., who was indicted alongside his son in February, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday as well, but his attorney Billy Murphy was held up in New Orleans. Tillman Jr.'s arraignment on charges he defrauded Ports of America Baltimore Inc., by allegedly saying he worked more than he did, as well as the Treasury Department, by claiming he made less than he did has been rescheduled to April 2. Tillman Jr. also faces charges of filing false tax returns, wire fraud, and illegally engaging in the insurance business through 4 Aces Bail Bonds.

Baltimore's leading bail bondsman and his son were arrested Wednesday on federal charges of filing false tax returns and illegally running an insurance business, among other counts. Milton Tillman Jr., 54, and his son, Milton Tillman III, 35, who run 4 Aces Bail Bonds Inc. and other companies, were each released pending trial during an initial appearance in Baltimore U.S. District Court on Wednesday afternoon. Neither man had been able to review the 28-count indictment before being brought to court.

Baltimore's biggest bail bondsman will plead guilty in a federal tax fraud and conspiracy case next week as part of a deal that spares his namesake son — and co-defendant — jail time and a felony record, which means the younger man can likely stay in the bond business. Milton Tillman Jr., 54, of Four Aces Bail Bonds Inc. was arrested alongside his son in March on a 28-count indictment charging the elder man with under-representing his earnings as a bail bondsman and over-representing the hours he worked as a longshoreman, along with wire fraud, filing false tax returns and illegally engaging in the insurance business.

Federal marshals and New York City police raided a Manhattan hotel yesterday and arrested a 20-year-old man charged with the shooting deaths of Baltimore bail bondsman Angelo Garrison Sr. and his 3-year-old son, city police reported.The suspect, Levon Stokes, was arrested without incident just before 8:30 a.m. at a hotel in the 100 block of W. 112th St.Mr. Stokes was arrested on a fugitive warrant and will probably be returned to Baltimore in about 10 days -- after he receives an extradition hearing, said Sam Ringgold, a city police spokesman.

Howard Duncan is no mere company man -- unless he owns the company. "I can't work for anyone," he says.The independent 55-year-old Columbia man has operated a car-dealing business. He's worked as a mortician. He's run a snack bar at the Howard County Circuit Courthouse in Ellicott City. Now he's a bail bondsman.Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, the North Carolina native says an adventure for him is starting a business from the ground up. "I think he typifies the American small-business man," said Joel Abramson, a Columbia lawyer who represents the Duncan family.

A former bail bondsman pleaded guilty in Baltimore Circuit Court yesterday to forging stolen court documents to win 17 defendants' temporary release from the Baltimore City Jail while bilking their families out of a total of $51,700.Anthony Hill, 32, of the 3600 block of Howard Park Avenue pleaded guilty to 47 counts of conspiracy, forgery, theft, aiding in escape, obstruction of justice, handgun possession and other charges.Sentencing was set for Feb. 6. Judge Hilary D. Caplan indicated that he would impose a 20-year term.

Baltimore was known for things quirky and criminal long before Mark J. Adams opened what he claims is the world's only hot-pink bail bond office. And so the city's reputation should survive once the rain lets up and the "shocking pink" former florist shop that Adams moved into a month ago can be repainted. "We're going to paint it a stately green," Adams said. Fair Deal bail bonds sits at 2150 Boston, in a mostly residential neighborhood between Canton and Fells Point.

Baltimore bail bondsman Milton Tillman III, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to charges he defrauded the Treasury Department, lied on tax returns and permitted a prohibited person, his father, to participate in the insurance business through a type of bond guarantee. His father, Milton Tillman Jr., who was indicted alongside his son in February, was scheduled to be arraigned this week, but his attorney Billy Murphy was held up in New Orleans. Tillman Jr.'s arraignment on charges he defrauded Ports of America Baltimore Inc., by allegedly saying he worked more than he did, as well as the Treasury Department, by claiming he made less than he did, has been rescheduled to April 2. Tillman Jr. also faces charges of filing false tax returns, wire fraud and illegally engaging in the insurance business through 4 Aces Bail Bonds.

Baltimore bail bondsman Milton Tillman III, 32, pleaded not guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to charges he defrauded the Treasury Department, lied on tax returns and permitted a prohibited person, his father, to participate in the insurance business through a type of bond guarantee. His father, Milton Tillman Jr., who was indicted alongside his son in February, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday as well, but his attorney Billy Murphy was held up in New Orleans. Tillman Jr.'s arraignment on charges he defrauded Ports of America Baltimore Inc., by allegedly saying he worked more than he did, as well as the Treasury Department, by claiming he made less than he did has been rescheduled to April 2. Tillman Jr. also faces charges of filing false tax returns, wire fraud, and illegally engaging in the insurance business through 4 Aces Bail Bonds.

Baltimore's leading bail bondsman and his son were arrested Wednesday on federal charges of filing false tax returns and illegally running an insurance business, among other counts. Milton Tillman Jr., 54, and his son, Milton Tillman III, 35, who run 4 Aces Bail Bonds Inc. and other companies, were each released pending trial during an initial appearance in Baltimore U.S. District Court on Wednesday afternoon. Neither man had been able to review the 28-count indictment before being brought to court.

The first day of school is a little more than a week away for 11-year-old Molik Hylton, and he readily admits he has no desire to reopen the books. He will, however, be prepared to do so with a new notebook, a fresh haircut and one final day of fun, courtesy of a block party Saturday in his Northwest Baltimore neighborhood. "I don't want to go," said Molik, who will be a fifth-grader at Arlington Elementary/Middle School. "But this helps a little bit." The eight-hour party in the 4000 block of W. Belvedere Ave. was sponsored by eight local businesses that provided food, haircuts and school supplies to about 100 kids in attendance.

Federal agents this week raided the offices of Milton Tillman Jr., a leading Baltimore bail bondsman who has been a repeated target of federal and state law enforcement and was convicted years ago of tax evasion and bribery. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein would confirm only that the federal agents raided 2332 E. Monument St., the headquarters of Tillman's 4 Aces bond company; 1101 North Point Blvd. and 1003 Greenmount Ave., both business addresses; and 3818 Kimble Road, which is in the same block where Tillman's son was wounded in a drug-related shooting.

A 73-year-old Columbia bail bondsman who was thinking about retiring died of a heart attack Monday while in Baltimore to bail out a client.Louis Leon Myles, believed to have been the first bondsman based in Howard County, was losing interest in the job he started in 1987, but kept at it anyway, said his wife, Minnie Myles."

A local bail bondsman's tenacity in recouping $75,000 led Atlantic City, N.J., police to a 27-year-old bail jumper who's charged with killing four people in Baltimore during an 11-day stretch in 1990.Carlos A. Murray, a Jamaican national who once resided in the 200 block of Hammershire Road in Owings Mills, is being held by Atlantic City authorities and is awaiting extradition to Baltimore, Detective Oscar L. Requer of the Baltimore homicide unit said."The FBI is happy. The police are happy.

People charged with crimes generally can get out of jail by paying a bondsman 10 percent of the bail set by the courts. But many in Maryland are walking free by paying much less - in some cases as little as 1 percent - to bondsmen willing to offer a discount. These cut-rate bails are a common practice, leading to thousands of people accused of serious offenses going free on far less bail than some judges and the public realize. State regulators and city prosecutors say they are troubled, but bondsmen argue that such price reductions are necessary to remain competitive in a cutthroat industry.

So, O.J. Simpson, whose career as a professional defendant is going just gangbusters, was back in the spotlight (e.g., courtroom) in Las Vegas yesterday because he made a phone call that prosecutors said violated terms of his release on bail regarding that sports memorabilia fracas at the Palace Station. Simpson had tried to send an angry message through the bail bondsman at the You Ring We Spring agency to a co-defendant, a move that angered the judge who originally released him on bail.