So You Got Arrested

Bail Bonds & Cartel Takedowns: Insights from an Undercover NARC

• BRCK Criminal Defense Attorneys

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0:00 | 29:45

The Texas justice system can be messy, but understanding how to navigate it—especially after an arrest—is crucial. In this episode of So You Got Arrested, host Scott Simpson of BRIC Criminal Defense sits down with Sal Martinez, owner of Freedom Bail Bonds and author of NARC: Confessions of an Undercover Agent.

Sal brings a unique, 360-degree perspective to the table. Having served as a Texas State Trooper and a DEA undercover agent working against the Mexican cartels in the 1990s, he now helps people navigate the complexities of the bail bond system in Wilson, Atascosa, and Live Oak counties. We dive into the nuts and bolts of how bail works, the risks of "gimmick" bond pricing, and the reality of life under the radar as an undercover agent.

Key topics include:

  • The Bail Process: What families need to know about 10% fees, payment plans, and bond revocations.
  • Attorney-Writ Bonds: The ethical and practical risks of lawyers acting as bondsmen.
  • Life in the 81st District: How bond conditions like GPS and breathalyzers vary across Texas counties.
  • Undercover Operations: Sal’s hair-raising stories of "black bag" jobs, working with the Federales, and facing off against cartels.
  • Survival Tips: Practical advice on how to handle a traffic stop safely and respectfully.
SPEAKER_00

Whether you're facing charges or just want to understand your rights, your offices, and the smart moves that could change everything. We've got your back.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, good evening. This is Scott Simpson with Brick Criminal Defense. And once again, I apologize that Stephen Barrera was unable to make it. It's not the same without him. But I I he will be here for the next segment uh uh the following Thursday. Uh but we have a great guest today. I'm here to introduce Sal Martinez, and one of the things we've talked about in our prior podcasts is what happens when you get arrested, is the name of our podcast. And so one of the things that's important when you get arrested is you generally pretty much have to go to a bail bond company. And we have with us a very good friend of Stephen Pereira. I've just meeting him today. Uh his name's Sal Martinez, and he has a bail bond company. And so, Sal, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sal’s Path: Trooper To DEA To Bondsman

SPEAKER_02

Uh I was born and raised in El Paso, and uh in 1985, I was uh hired as a state trooper in Floresville. So I was there for several years, then I jumped over to drug enforcement administration. I did that for about 10 years, then um ended up coming back after 10, 15 years of putting people in jail, and now I'm getting them out. So I've been doing that for the 15 years. Uh how did you get from El Paso to Floresville? Uh again, it was the uh state trooper uh assignment over there in Floresville. So uh I I I'd never been over here in Central Texas, loved it, and uh I'm still here. Um but uh no, I I like I like doing what I'm doing. Uh it's uh I've been to both extremes of the criminal justice system, so now I'm uh uh a bail bondsman in uh at Escosa and Wilson County, South San Antonio.

SPEAKER_03

So when somebody gets arrested, you know, say my my son gets arrested, and I'm like, oh my God, I gotta get him out. I can't, I don't have$10,000. Uh what are things they should know when they're trying to get a bail bond company?

How Bail Really Works And Fees

SPEAKER_02

The first thing I enlighten people is that uh the amount of the bond is provided by the bond company itself. Generally, bond companies will charge 10%. You may hear some gimmicks of, hey, we'll charge 1%, 2%, 5%. That just part of the down payment for the actual 10%. Right. A lot of bond companies will go above that. And I'd like to keep it consistent with my clients. Uh, and and it gets a lot of money that's at stake. So in the bond business, it's about risk. We'll be putting up the the amount of the bond, which would be anywhere from 1,000 to 150,000, even higher sometimes. Uh so we put that up our business, and and then at that point, the the people that are are are trying to get their loved one out, they're um there's negotiations for about a 10% uh uh of the uh fee. So let's say it's a ten thousand dollar bond. Uh we'll be asking for a thousand dollars. If they don't have the five thousand dollars, then okay, just what can you come up with? And uh they show an interest by uh the amount and then say, well, I only have a hundred dollars. Wait a second, that's not good math. So if you you know a loved one really wants to get somebody out, they'll provide close to that$1,000, and then from there we'll do a payment plan.

SPEAKER_03

Because and and and so what families need to know when you enter in an agreement with a bond company and you stop paying what you agreed to pay, what's gonna happen?

SPEAKER_02

That's one of the reasons the bond companies will go on and uh revoke the bond or ask the judge to get off the bond. And uh, but there's other reasons for that. For me, I I take it personally when they don't report. Uh I'm very lenient. I'll have my clients just check in once a month by text. They don't have to call me. Oh, well, yeah, because a lot of companies want you once a week. Yeah, I know they're a lot more strict. I'm very lenient. I get enough other things on my plate right now, but and but I'm very selective about who I get out. So I don't like to uh get a lot of the riff-raff or the chronic uh uh you know repetitive uh offenders because they're just a lot of uh worrying about them. And literally I'll lose sleep on on if I don't hear from some some of my clients, then I know I need to turn into a bounty hunter and go after them.

SPEAKER_03

And so that so the weird thing in Texas is that some attorneys make bail bonds. We've never done it at BRIC because this now this is just my opinion. I know a lot of attorneys will disagree with me. I'm interested in your opinion on this. Is so if if I make a guy's bail bond and he's not returning my calls, all of a sudden instead of being I'm supposed to be worrying about being an advocate for him, I'm more worried about losing my money and I'm I'm gonna file a motion to get off his bond, getting him arrested. So I've gotten my own client arrested. How do you feel about like attorneys who write bonds?

Revocations, Check-Ins, And Risk

SPEAKER_02

I I think it's risky on their part. Uh for us, uh, we we do have uh private investigators. Not they're not bounty hunters, even though that's what they're in quotation, but uh private investigators are authorized to to follow up and and locate these uh we call them runners. And once they uh find out whether we have them arrest them, and once they arrest them, then we're off the bond. So before we do the bond, uh regarding what I was explaining earlier, we need somebody to sign an indemnity uh application and a promissory note for that bond. In other words, they'll be liable for the bond amount if the person we can't cannot be found after a year from the time that he was supposed to be in court. So uh that that's a and that that puts pressure on the person who signed them out. So I I emphasize that with the family member. I try to deal with family members. I don't like getting boyfriends or girlfriends or uh because then they break up after that.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, that happens all the time.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of drama, and I hate that. So uh I'm very selective about how I get out. I try to deal with family members.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, because it's weird, particularly on domestic violence cases, you know, they then they get into a fight and then they don't want to pay the bond anymore because they don't care if the person gets rearrested. And so it it's a weird dynamic. And so when I I was a prosecutor for a long time, when I left the DA's office, I had a lot of police officers and prosecutors who would hire me to represent their friends. And then even they they paid the bill, they wanted me to tell them everything about the case. But my obligation that that's not my obligation.

SPEAKER_02

No, and you regarding those domestic violence situations, there's a lot of political pressure on on the prosecutors for drunk driving and and uh family uh violence. And you'd be surprised the first one to call me to get the loved one out of jail, or the husband or the wife, or uh boyfriend or girlfriend is is the victim. They're saying, Hey Sal, can you get so-and-so out of it? I wouldn't be surprised. I know that happens all the time. You know, their uh example is the wife will tell me, Well, he's a breadwinner. We get him out of uh working, it was a misunderstanding. Well, uh we we didn't want to uh have him arrested. I said, Well, you know, you call the cops. Once you call the cops, that's when the you know what hits the fan.

SPEAKER_03

But because there is a practicality to it. In other words, in other words, if they can't make the mortgage or the rent because the their loved ones in jail, then yeah, they need to get them out and because otherwise they might get evicted.

Domestic Violence, Politics, And Practicalities

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that's right. And the the thing I tell a lot of the people that are in jail or the uh the loved one trying to get them out is I'm I'm a believer and it's not um I would rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. So I tell them, don't tell your employer that you got arrested because for all we know, this thing may get rejected or dismissed. But there's a lot of administrative guidelines within these, uh, whatever their field is, and I tell them they need to be aware of that because if you do bring it up to a supervisor or something, you get terminated. So it goes back to the repercussions of the actual arrest and having them incarcerated. So are you are most of your bonds in the 81st judicial district? Yes, uh, everything out of Wilson County, out of Skosa. I used to do carnes and I still do Live Oak, um, but everything's in it uh in that district. And I'm um I I could expand, but I I just want to focus on on people and the geography where I'm at. I'm very comfortable there after 15 years of doing this. I can you give me the last name of somebody, I can tell you what kind of family they're from, and and that I have a network of informants out there too that'll help me locate somebody they're not uh taking care of their business with me.

SPEAKER_03

And as far as like doing bonds for Atuscosa or Wilson or Carnes or anything, is it different in terms of how you uh how quickly you get them, they can get out after you post the bond? Or is there things that we need to know?

SPEAKER_02

But actually, they're not much of a difference. Uh it's a matter of, of course, the out here the judges show up uh every other every morning. It's been very rare that a judge or magistrate has not been there uh around 9, 10, 11 the the following morning. So everybody arrested overnight or the day before is magistrated, the bond is set, and that's when I come in. And usually it takes about an hour to two hours before they're out. So it's really really that quick? Yeah, compared to other other people.

SPEAKER_03

So like when you go in and post the bond, they're out within a couple hours. Yeah, yeah, that's really good.

SPEAKER_02

But in bear, we're talking 12 to 18 hours. That's why I don't deal with bear.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, there you go. All right, yeah, but I I never Yeah, it's it's a different type. But I well, I guess the jails are smaller, it's easier to process.

SPEAKER_02

Sure. And again, uh you try to make the paper paperwork uh uh correct, and you don't want to give them any more things to worry about. Oh, there's a typo here, you wrote the wrong things, and I don't like to to waste the the people on my clients their time as well as the jail's time. So uh I've had a good rapport with the the jails here in uh Wilson and Ascosa and Lybo County.

Court Delays, Indictments, And Tracking Dates

SPEAKER_03

So obviously uh sometimes people make bonds, and of course, they're hiring an attorney besides going to a bail bond company, and then both of us are interested because a lot of people in Atiscosa or uh Wilson they don't have a court date when they get bonded out. It takes a long time. Uh which is we like so we're all nervous about like making sure because we have to make sure that I don't want I don't want my client to get re-arrested because they didn't go to court. That's right. You don't want to give them to be yelling at you because we you made the bond of this guy, but it takes a while, like we're we check each month.

SPEAKER_02

That's what I do, and I have them check in with me and I I enlighten my clients. I show them exactly who to call regarding the county courts and then the district courts, there's a website, and I said look once a month and look for the indictment list. And if you're on that list, that's when we take it to the next level. However, uh the irresponsibility on their part, if they don't do that, then hey, how come you didn't do this? You haven't called me, then I get upset because I don't like looking for my clients. I emphasize that to them. Just text me, let me know that you're aware of what you're supposed to do. Now, a lot of times they rely on the attorney to do that, right? And I've had some other attorneys out there besides the brick law firm that they don't follow through or their sisters don't, and they missed their client missed the court date, then I get sued, then I I chew them out. And anyways, but um but because we can't check every day.

SPEAKER_03

Like we check at the beginning of each month to see if our clients have a court date or or some of these cases they don't even have warrants yet. Sure.

SPEAKER_02

No, I mean criminal uh county cases, um, statute of limitations is two years, and felonies, most felonies are are three years, right? So on that time, they're out of my dime. So I and make sure that they're you know, if they do get in trouble, and I do have my repeat offenders, but uh long as they take care of business with me, I'll take care of them. Right. So in that meantime, I've literally got people waiting all the way up to three years, and then like, well, they got indicted at the last minute, or did so uh uh Audrey Lewis has been very helpful with uh allowing me to find out when some of my clients have we've been waiting almost two years. I said, Hey, can can you all let me know what the status is and if it's been rejected or it's pending? That's all I need to know so we can let I can let my client know.

SPEAKER_03

But I know it is difficult sometimes because so so we get clients who it's it's been like say the statute, some of those statute limitations are longer. Right. So some of the ones we have, they're like five years, right? And and so after a couple of years, they're like, uh, well, what the hell's going on with this case? Well, and and and we're like, well, what do you want to do? Call them up and remind them so that you get indicted. It's kind of like they we're kind of hopeful that they just forget about it, but but but you understand, but they get uh frustrated because this thing's hanging over their head.

SPEAKER_02

Sure. And I explained that the options, it's gonna be first of all, of course, getting them out of jail, then getting back to living. They're they're free. There's certain travel restrictions that have been uh given to them by the magistrating judge. But once it gets to the county court or the district court, then they're under their direction or uh authority of them. And at that point, that's when we rely on the attorneys to say, hey, listen, give them a little bit more leniency on traveling because a lot of these people are not from here. So and they go to court for two years sometimes and they got to come once a month to Floresville or to Aniscosa or Light Oak, and it's frustrating for everybody. It is. I wish there was a faster way to take care of a lot of these cases, but I'm just uh the bottom of the totem pole with that.

Bond Conditions And GPS Monitoring

SPEAKER_03

No, you're not you're you're you're a great part of the totem pole. But uh, but uh so in Bear, I'm I'm more of an expert on Bear. Stephen knows the 81st. When I say the 81st, we're talking about Wilson County, Carnage County, Live Oak County, um Carnage and Live and Frio. I don't do it anymore. Yeah, but uh in Bear County, a lot of our people who get who get bonded out, they have like GPS and a lot of conditions. What did what are you seeing in the 81st in terms of a bunch of conditions they stick on? I think it's overkill on some of the business.

SPEAKER_02

I really do because it's really uh frustrating, not only for the for the people to pay for this uh service, it's not cheap. Not only are they having to pay for the bond, uh they have to worry about uh uh uh uh getting that monitoring and it's real sensitive sometimes if they make a mistake. I mean, we're literally talking about revoking the bond and having them rearrest it, and they think it's the bond company that does it, but it's not the monsters. But but so a lot of people in the 81st getting GPS, or is it rare? No, it's very rare. Okay, very rare. Uh there I understand some of the extreme circumstances, but it's just an inconvenience for us to to get hold of a company to uh have the clients pay for that service.

SPEAKER_03

Right. And so now we've had success getting uh once they got out and show they're doing okay, getting the judge to maybe waive the fees on it, or later on if they've been doing okay, trying to get the the GPS off or modifying the conditions that are bond. But it's it's successful.

SPEAKER_02

You talk about having people that lose their cards or lose their job and they have to pay just to go to work in order to have to blow into this thing. So again, that's out of my hands. I that's no, it's nothing we can do, man.

SPEAKER_03

We just got to make sure they do what they're supposed to do.

Mindset: Prepare For The Worst

Break And Firm Message

SPEAKER_02

So I tell a lot of my clients our system is guilty until proven innocent. So whatever you've been accused of, uh you got to get ready for the worst case scenario. And I tell people don't rely on hope. Expect the next part of this uh this nightmare, which is getting formally charged, indicted, and then next part is going to court and expecting uh uh on the outcome uh something expect the worst case scenario. But again, it depends on the attorneys. And and I have good rapport with the with Brick. Uh uh again, when I know my clients um have been uh have retained Brick Law firm, I'm very uh happy with uh knowing that they're gonna be in good hands. There's other attorneys in the area that I have a lot of good re have good rapport with. So when they're retained, I know that the uh the clients are gonna be taken care of.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and this is this is one of the most reliable bond guys. There's a lot of bond companies. So, so Sal is is humble, but some of those bond companies are quoting you like 1% or things like that. They're looking to get off your bond and like if you sneeze funny. Okay, Sal works with you uh and he does a nice job. So so uh, but on the other side of the break, we're gonna talk about Sal's got a book and and there's he's had some really unique experiences, and we're gonna talk about that on the other side of this break.

unknown

Thanks.

Off-Books DEA Work In Juarez

SPEAKER_01

The attorneys of Brit Criminal Defense have helped over 5,000 clients move on with their lives. When an arrest or accusation turns your life upside down, we have the knowledge, experience, and integrity to get your life back on track. Traditional legal ethics, modern legal tactics, the best defense possible to get you through the criminal justice system. Search Brit Criminal Defense to see our reviews and find out why so many of our clients have trusted us to fight for death. Brit Criminal Defense, helping our clients move on with their lives.

SPEAKER_03

All right, we talked about that that sales written a book because you we mentioned in the first half that you were a state trooper, but you also uh worked as a narcotics agent. Yeah, most tell me about that.

SPEAKER_02

I was working for the Drug Enforcement Administration in El Paso and uh in the 90s, and at that time there were no law enforcement authorities working in in Juarez and see the Juarez across the border. And my supervisor one day says, Hey Sal, you and another Hispanic agent, you guys got to start going over there across the river and work in the cartels. I said, We're not authorized. He goes, Well, just do whatever you gotta do. We don't want any reports, uh, do it for guiding country. And we did. We did that for several years. I would work with special teams of Mexican federales that would be vetted and we'd fly them in, and we wouldn't tell the local cops because they were most of them were corrupt, if not all of them. So we had these teams and we would be doing wiretaps and black bag jobs and surveillance and and arrest in Mexico. And and technically I wasn't authorized to have a gun over there, but I'd rather be tried by 12 than carried by six. So I took my glasses.

SPEAKER_03

I like that phrase. So so okay, I've always I I just watched a movie called Black Bag. I don't know what black bag means. What does that mean?

SPEAKER_02

It's an operation that is again, nothing's written uh uh off the books. Off the books, yeah. Under the radar, we don't we have to do certain things, and again, for the benefit of uh of our uh uh objective, which was drug trafficking. Uh El Paso and Juarez was the gateway of the cartel sending tons and tons of coke almost every day, and nobody was doing anything about it on the Mexican side. So we went over there and tried to recruit these these guys, and we worked with them for several months at a time, and then eventually you can see that they were getting bought off or the splat dollar plomo. In other words, you pay or you die. Right. So we we uh we would work with these guys for a while then uh and and we would get in great intelligence. In fact, I had some great informants and and uh good information for the rest of the DA offices throughout the United States. We did a lot of uh undercover deals with uh tons of Coke and marijuana. We would take them to different parts of the of the country and they were called controlled deliveries. So uh through through Carolina, we took marijuana, to California, we took Coke, Chicago, a lot of money would come back. So I would work with uh uh domestically and in foreign uh capacity. And I felt that was one of the most effective uh DEA undercover agents.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, and so so what was your cover?

Covers, Controlled Deliveries, And Informants

SPEAKER_02

And I was just what do they think you did? I was more of a money man on some of the by bus. In other words, somebody had uh some uh cocaine keys of coke or or black tar heroin or we dealt with larger loads or tons of marijuana. I would tell them I was a money man out of Dallas or another part of the United States, and and then my our informants and informants were very important for us in law enforcement, they still are. Uh unfortunately, a lot of them are crooked. So they'll they'll sway the law enforcement officers and believe that they're doing something, and right, in fact, uh entrapment and all other aspects happen, so it still happens today. But they were rely uh they would provide us with uh the person that would have the stuff and they were the go-between. Then after we would do the negotiations, I would push the deformant out, and then we would take the dope up to different parts of the country, and we would let the local agencies handle the arrests over there and then keep our organization El Paso clean.

SPEAKER_03

So but how does it work when it's it's an off-the-books operation? What happens to the drugs that you actually seize when you get it brought in, or does it just get distributed and it gets followed?

SPEAKER_02

Sometimes, unfortunately, we have to let some of it go in order to get a larger load.

SPEAKER_03

So everything from Yeah, because everything that if everything that came in got seized, they'd know what was going on.

SPEAKER_02

And again, a lot of the organizations, the cartel members, they would, well, we're gonna give you this amount, and it was a trial run. They wanted to see what we did. And and that uh so they would if everything went well with that smaller load, then we started doing contracts with larger loads, and again, we were very effective doing these control deliveries in in El Paso.

SPEAKER_03

But my understanding is at some point something went wrong.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, uh, I had an informant, and the dirtier the better, right? That's what we believe. So I had a very dirty informant out of uh Tamalipas, he was a Mexican uh comandante involved with many murders and worked with uh several U.S. agencies, but everybody felt that he was uh uh two-faced, and uh he had helped me with some great information. Uh, but again, he turned something there at the end, and again, that's where the twist comes out of the book. Well, tell it tell tell tell us about like so so the book is called Narc, right? Convictions of an undercover agent. Uh it it's it's in my words, and and again, there may be a few misspelled words in there, but I I just wanted you know, cops and and attorneys have great stories in uh criminal justice field. We can talk for hours, and and you you ever talk to a cop or uh uh an attorney about cases, they'll enlighten you a lot about some crazy stuff. So uh there's been a lot of books written down about uh undercover stuff or cop stories. Mine has a unique twist at the end, and I prefer not to give it out at the end of the day. No, of course not. But uh uh National Geographic did a story on me uh through the program Locked Up Abroad. Uh it was once season 11. In episode one, uh, they got hold of me from London and said they thought my story was extraordinary. So um they did an episode on that. And when did you film that episode? This was done uh several years ago. It was done here at the KLRN studios uh because the COVID had hit. So they were gonna fly me to London to do the story, but uh they decided to do it with Zoom with some producers here at KLRN.

SPEAKER_03

If it wasn't for COVID, you got a nice free expense page to London.

SPEAKER_02

That would have been great. But uh so we that came out, and it's uh I guess you can still get it for$1.99 on Hulu. I'm not sure where exactly.

SPEAKER_03

So so because I have the National Geographic Channel on my on my Hulu.

SPEAKER_02

Uh so it might be there's and then they keep on changing episodes. So somebody just told me I just did a speech at a local college, and uh one of the professors told me that they had changed the episode number, but it's Locked Up Abroad, uh uh Mexican cartel takedown, uh Sal Martinez, and uh gives you a little bit of an idea what uh uh was done in the book. But again, the book was uh uh more detailed. I use a lot of rock.

The Book, Locked Up Abroad Feature

SPEAKER_03

The book is is narc there. Uh but but yeah, so now now we live in the age of Google. So if you Google Locked Up Abroad, yeah uh Sal Martinez or or I'm yeah, but I think if you just Googled Locked Up Abroad Narc, that would bring up a lot more.

SPEAKER_02

This one, I have narc dash agent.com, that's my website, and then from there uh it'll probably give you a direction of where to find it. But uh more more important about the story is that I wanted to uh you know I infused a lot of rock and roll. It helped me out when I was younger on Zeppelin, Zeppelin and uh Z Top, and and I could go on and on about how it helped me out. So I I put it in some of these stories because music had a way of uh uh uh being part of what I was doing undercover. I dealt with a lot of um negative aspects. And then in cops, they see things a lot in black and white. Uh I enlightened people, there's a lot of gray out there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

No, there's there's there's some uh you know, the strange bedfellows because generally people in in life of crime always want to be buddies with cops. That's right.

Career Lessons And Safety Advice

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I had a lot of fans. Uh I was a state trooper with a big old cowboy hat down in Florida, and I'd be walking around and everybody wanted to kind of hang out with me. But uh yeah, I was uh cops will kind of hang out with each other. It's it's rare that you'll see them hang out with uh people with different professions. But now, timeline-wise, we either state trooper first or the undercover agent first. No, I was a state trooper first. Uh uh, I did that for five years and then uh uh I had a degree in criminal justice, so and I recommend recommend that to anybody who's uh interested in criminal justice. Get get a get a degree, a bachelor of science or uh uh VA, and then from there go to the federal government. They have the best benefits and you get to travel a lot more. Uh whereas the local agencies, uh God bless them, uh their limited budgets and a lot more uh violent crimes for me. I was dealing with uh white-collar criminals and in the cartels, and there were some times I had a K-47 in my face like four different times. And uh it was an adrenaline rush. Uh, I was younger then, it was fun. But now it's you got the Leb Zeppelin fan in your headphones. Right, right. But uh no, and and that's what I did now as a bondsman. I I know how to enlighten my clients of on both ends of the criminal justice system, and and I can uh tell them how uh what what law enforcement is thinking and why they arrested them and what uh the attorneys will be going through, so I can uh feel like I'm more uh educated than a lot of these other bail bond companies.

SPEAKER_03

And because I think that that you have more empathy for somebody who's who's going through it because you've seen a lot of stuff in your business. Sure, sure. And I was gonna I was gonna curse.

SPEAKER_02

I edited myself. So uh yeah, these other companies they have multiple people working for them. I do this by myself. I do have a few runners that help me once in a while, but I I make sure my clients know uh what their options are. And and and again, uh when I deal with somebody with bricklaw firm, you guys are great. You take care of it. So so if if I'm Googling looking for a bond company, what's what's the name of your company? Uh Freedom Bail Bonds. I'm based out of Floresville and out of Skosa County. And there's a lot of bail freedom bail bonds companies throughout the country, and but I have no affiliation. I do this by myself. And uh again, I I feel I give more of a personal uh attention to my clients.

SPEAKER_03

So when you look it up and you see Freedom Bail Bonds, make sure you're getting the one in Floresville. Yeah, better call Sal. Better call Sal. I like that. I like that. I love that show, by the way. Um and so um so of all the different experiences you had, would you say that they're bail bondsman, state trooper, undercover agent? Which one do you enjoy the most? Working undercover was an adrenaline rush.

SPEAKER_02

But you can only do that for so many years. Uh I I did pretty good for about 10 years. And then Yeah, then uh the the the machine guns in my face kind of changed my attitude. It humbled me.

SPEAKER_03

What is it? What is it about being young that you're more reckless about your life and as you get older you're more cautious about us? I think it's in theory, you should be more cautious when you're young, you have more to live. Yeah, that's right.

SPEAKER_02

And you don't we don't, yeah, we don't think about the repercussions, and that's what happens with a lot of the people that I deal with and write down the body business. They just think it is a party and don't carry anything in the car. Get that thing. If you have a joint or even a vape pen, tell your clients hey, get that thing out of there. It's just craziness what people like there.

SPEAKER_03

You're I've had people that go to visit somebody at the jail and have coke in their pocket, and then they're trying to say to the other guy, they're not my pants. Okay, deny, deny, deny. Yeah, deny it's like so. If you're if you know you're you're driving with an expired license or expired registration, uh, don't don't have cocaine in the car. That's right. Because they're gonna pull you over, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I know. And again, it's just a matter of uh recklessness. And I think we've all been through it. I've we've had a couple, I've had more than two beers a time.

SPEAKER_03

Uh uh so when you're a state trooper in in Floresville area, yeah, you're driving along, and and so uh we we always tell our guys that you're gonna the officers are just running license plates. Is that true? Am I right?

SPEAKER_02

Oh no, it's it's they're looking for we would profile. Uh again, you you'd hate to say that, but it's still done. You see a car come in with four guys and they're in a small town and said these guys are not from here, you find a reason to pull them over.

SPEAKER_03

That's and again it's well, because a lot of times when you run license plates, it's it's like expired registration or there's something weird.

Traffic Stops: What Officers Look For

SPEAKER_02

There's something officers don't have the time to be sitting there doing that with every car going by. No, no, no. There's a there's a uh uh I think I get it goes back to the discretion of the officer, and that's very important uh when it comes down to a traffic stop. I tell people right away to you know, if you get pulled over lights, pull over right away where we're safe, roll down your windows, put your hands on the steering wheel, turn on the inside light. It makes the officer a little bit more uh you know comfortable knowing that he knows what he's doing with when he makes that uh when he pulls over that vehicle. But if you start running or ignoring the officer and putting your seatbelt on or hiding something, they're seeing that and then they're thinking, and I would think they're doing they're hiding something or a weapon. And I'm always thinking negative. So uh I'd be sometimes with my gun drawn and and that would escalate the issue. So kill them with your kindness. Um say yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no ma'am. And then and just uh they have the uh upper hand in that situation.

SPEAKER_03

So I always get I always get nervous for officers when when it may be late at night on 281 or a busy road and they're pulled over because I know a lot of officers end up getting hurt by getting hit by cars that when you're on the shoulder.

Scene Safety And Secondary Crashes

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah, that was one of the biggest things we were concerned about. And there's a certain way to park the car behind the car pulling over off the shoulder, depends on the person to pull it over. So also again get off the shoulder and and as far as you can, so it makes it safe for the officer. And again, the officer's paying this paying attention to stuff, so it'll be to your benefit when you're getting pulled over and uh uh uh for the safety of everybody because that is dangerous. And and and then sometimes they'll get off to the passenger side, and then why that's why I say roll down the windows if it's not too adverse weather conditions, you know, too bad, uh too bad of a weather conditions, but uh it helps them out and also the safety of everybody involved. Yeah, because that that's just a dangerous situation. No, no, there's a lot of rubber knakers, and and and again, you see people uh when I would control an uh accident scene, the first thing I would do is make sure we put flares at the down the road, let everybody know, hey, there's something down here, and then people would say, Hey officer, can I help you? Hey, take these flares, light them up, throw them over there, and you get yourself out of the way. And uh, because people are going back and forth, and a lot of times there'd be secondary accidents.

Closing, Book Details, And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Well, we really appreciate you coming. Once again, the book is is NARC and the and it's Freedom Bail Bonds in in Floresville. Uh, he's a straight-up individual, and not all bail bond companies are. So if you want to get treated well, you you call sal and freedom bail bonds and go out and read the book or or look at in that National Geographic.

SPEAKER_02

Sure, it's on this is uh 1999 on Amazon. Got it. There you go. All right, all right. And uh there's two editions. It was one with a badge, but uh I recommend get this one. This is an edited vision uh um version of it. I'm sorry. So it's on Amazon Coke. Yeah, Amazon and uh 1999. I'm making very little money off of it. I just want to tell my story. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

It's a good and these kind of stories are good for everybody to hear, particularly there's a lot of people who like to go in the criminal justice system. Uh you know, we need more officers. Uh some of the jurisdictions we have were a little light on officers. So so uh when you want to hear how it really works, you know.

SPEAKER_02

And I enlighten a lot of the college students. I tell them what to expect. And in the book, I try to tell people if you're gonna get a law enforcement, this is what you need to expect. And and uh and again, I give career press. I'm all about advice and giving uh positive reinforcement to uh anybody I I deal with, and especially in law enforcement, it's a very complex situation now.

unknown

It is.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we really appreciate you coming and and have a great rest of the week. Thank you so much. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for listening to Don't You Got Arrested. If you found this podcast helpful, share it with someone who needs to hear it. For more legal insights and real time from the front lines of the Texas Justice Center. Follow us and subscribe. And remember, we're gonna go to the city.