You may know what bail bonds in Angleton, TX are, but what you may not know is just how pricey those bail amounts can get. Although average costs for some crimes can come in at mere hundreds, others can reach heights of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars! If you think that the averages are high, then just wait until you take a look at the five highest bail bonds ever set on record.
1. Bernard Madoff. Bernard Madoff was a billionaire investor who tipped the bail scale at $10 million. A huge number of people entrusted this seemingly charismatic man with their own personal cash, hoping to see large returns. Unfortunately for them, Bernard Madoff turned out to be nothing more than a scam artist and a crook, tricking people out of their hard-earned income and losing virtually all of the investments he received. Think $10 million is a large bail amount? That’s nothing compared to the supposed $50 billion that his scheming cost his investors.
2. Michael Sorodsky. If you think that $10 million is a lot for bail on one person, then what would you think about $33 million? Medical provider Michael Sorodsky achieved this bail amount when he was incarcerated for allegedly committing sexual abuse, which he inflicted on his patients while they were under anesthesia. Sorodsky’s bail, being more than three times the amount of Bernard Madoff’s, just goes to show that it isn’t only business scammers who get slapped with the highest numbers.
3. Christopher Williams. Although you’re unlikely to see bail bonds in Angleton, TX as high as $33 million, that’s still nothing compared to the bail set for one Christopher Williams. When a judge sees an incarcerated individual as being at a high risk for fleeing, said judge may opt to raise the bail on that person in order to lessen the chance that he or she will run off. Due to his extensive criminal history as a young man, his multiple previous felony convictions and a previous skipped bail hearing, Christopher Williams was met with a $100 million bail, which is one of the highest of all time.
4. Raj Rajaratnam. Another criminal with a $100 million bail set on his head, Raj Rajaratnam was more fortunate than the others on our top five list of people with the highest bail amounts. Although the former businessman, who was charged for security fraud, was given a hefty $100 million bail, he was released after friends and family members pooled together about $20 million in cash and properties. Think he got off easy? Don’t worry—he was still fined additional millions of dollars for his crimes after his release.
5. Kim Freeman. Although most judges set criminal bail amounts according to the bail schedule guidelines, they may ultimately choose to set bails at whatever amount they see fit for the crime, provided it does not violate the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment, which seeks to limit the amount of the bail placed on criminals, was almost certainly disregarded by one judge in Columbus, OH who gave out the largest bail amount in recorded history. So what is the highest bail amount ever set? Can you wrap your head around $1 billion? Believe it or not, this was the bail amount given to brothel owner Kim Freeman. This absurdly high bail amount was put in place due to the vast number of connections that Freeman had and the high risk of flight she posed.