Absconding Bond begins jail spell as attorney bails

In the same June 6 hearing when a lawyer successfully motioned to be removed as representation for an alleged conwoman, a prosecutor revealed the defendant had again pilfered a politician’s campaign account and failed to wear her GPS ankle monitor for three months, earning her a jail stay lasting – at least – until her trial.

“This was set for trial today,” Criminal Court Judge John Stevens said, “and, surprise! We have something at the last minute – well, a couple of things at the last minute that we’re going to have to deal with.”

Judge Stevens revoked the bond of courtroom regular Mary Genevive Bond, 37, Monday morning after hearing convincing allegations that the woman flaunted numerous conditions of her bond relating to her GPS ankle monitor and entirely new crimes.

“Your bond is revoked, and you have no bond,” Stevens said as Bond wiped tears from her face and bailiffs approached to handcuff her. “You will be taken into custody. The court has given you fair, ample opportunity to follow the rules here. And just this, not talking about anything else: for three months you were AWOL. In 90 days – 90-plus days – you could have at any time, on your own, called and gotten back in communication. We could have dealt with this.”

Bond won’t have a chance to bail herself out this time, as Judge Stevens gave the defendant no bond after agreeing to a request from the District Attorney’s Office.

As of June 6, grand juries have indicted Bond for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle for stealing a car from Enterprise Rent-A-Car and securing a document by deception. Prosecutors have also accused her of stealing more than $30,000 from a local apartment complex, attempting to extort State Representative Joe Deshotel and stealing thousands from his right-hand man.

Prosecutor Daniel Boyd informed the court of a yet-to-be-released probable cause affidavit detailing Bond’s latest theft. Bond allegedly used banking information from the campaign account of District 22 State Representative candidate Christian “Manuel” Hayes, on whose campaign she previously worked. Those allegations are outlined in previous pages of The Examiner.

However, Stevens found her GPS-neglecting behavior to be worthy of a bond revocation, so prosecutors didn’t have to detail those alleged crimes to send Bond to jail. The June 6 hearing centered on allegations that Bond failed to meet conditions on her list of GPS-monitoring requirements. Specifically, the monitoring company, Johnny’s Interlock and Monitoring Service, couldn’t track Bond for three months. The company’s co-owner, Sharla Woods, provided dialogue that proved detrimental to Bond’s web of alleged deceit.

Adding further fuel to the pre-trial fire Bond faced Monday, Woods told Judge Stevens Bond has only paid for four of the 16 months she should have been paying, for a total of $900. Woods said Bond owes the company $2,700 in derelict fees. Woods also testified that the company hasn’t even been able to track her for the last three months, let alone secure money owed.

“We really don’t need your work if your people aren’t being monitored,” Stevens said during Woods’ testimony. “It’s kind of a waste of everybody’s effort and time. And, most importantly, it reduces the court’s order to being nothing and unenforced. The court’s orders are obviously not being taken seriously.”

“She is required to call in monthly payments or make monthly payments,” Woods responded when asked about Bond’s restrictions. She further confirmed Bond was also required to notify the company of any change in phone number. When Stevens asked if Bond had followed those conditions, Woods – without hesitation – said, “No.”

Woods said it had been a couple months before she was able to reach the defendant’s mother, who initially refused to share Bond’s new number. However, when told the next call would be to the court, she relented.

“I had no choice but to turn her in,” Woods said. “I tried working with her long enough and gave her a chance to come in and take care of this; she hasn’t.”

After Bond finally reached out to the company June 1, she told Woods she had been charging her monitor properly each night. However, it failed to register on Woods’ system. In an effort to correct the issue, Bond agreed to come to Woods’ office June 1 or 2 to get a new monitor. Bond never showed.

In fact, when Woods went to retrieve the device upon Bond’s bond revocation, the GPS monitor wasn’t even on her ankle.

“Well … add that to the list of reasons,” Stevens said when he learned.

Stevens hushed Bond several times as she attempted to offer an alternative telling of events without being sworn in, with Bond saying, “It was removed by Johnny’s in February. There are two people who know this happened. My daughter witnessed them take it off of me. My bondsman is aware, as well.”

However, according to Woods’ testimony, Bond told Woods June 1 that she had been charging her ankle monitor properly every night – somehow months after it was “removed” by the company.

That’s when the prosecution revealed they had Bond’s bondsman at the courthouse, waiting to testify to the contrary. As Bond attempted to interject, Stevens advised, “Can you stop speaking for just a second,” before telling the defendant that he’d have to swear her in if she wanted to make statements about the case. However, Stevens offered, there was likely a good reason attorney Ryan Gertz didn’t call her to the stand to discuss the claims she purported.

“It’s obvious in the way you acted that you didn’t take this very seriously,” Judge Stevens said before Bond tried to interrupt again. “Only when the trial date was imminent did you call in and try to patch up the problem. The hole in that ship sank that ship because it didn’t get fixed timely, and that was your responsibility.”

Conflict of interest

In a June 3 filing, Gertz motioned to be removed as Bond’s counsel over an apparent conflict of interest which arose after the latest theft allegations leveled by Christian “Manuel” Hayes.

Stevens allowed the meeting to proceed “ex parte,” literally translating to “out of the party” in Latin. Judge Stevens met with Gertz in a closed office with a court reporter and a video camera to capture what transpired. Although the “in camera” conference was recorded, the matter was sealed to the public.

“That reason is part of what Mr. Gertz expressed the need to have an ex parte, in-camera hearing to address,” Stevens said, referring to the new allegations against Bond.

While Gertz and Stevens were behind closed doors during their meeting, Bond told bailiffs she had text messages proving her GPS monitor was removed by Woods’ husband. She then accused Woods of lying on the stand.

Once the meeting concluded and the judge returned, Bond told him she couldn’t afford a new attorney “if she’s in jail.” So, Stevens looked up and saw public defender David Grove in the courtroom. He then appointed the attorney to represent the indigent Bond.

Bond began her jail spell at about 1:12 p.m. June 6, with no bond. As of press time, she was listed on the Jefferson County inmate roster.