Former Des Moines bail bondsman pleads guilty, gets probation for insurance fraud
The former owner of a Des Moines bail bond company has been sentenced to probation after admitting to insurance fraud and other crimes.
David Ellis, 66, owned and operated Always Affordable Bail Bonds until a yearlong investigation by the Iowa Insurance Division's Fraud Bureau resulted in 11 criminal charges in 2021. In addition to fraud, Ellis was charged with identity theft, fraudulent sales practices and prostitution, the last for allegedly agreeing to post bond for one or more people in exchange for a sex act.
Ellis pleaded guilty to one count of insurance fraud and two counts of identity theft, and he was sentenced Dec. 8. Ellis' attorney said Ellis felt partially vindicated in that, to his mind, none of those charges relate to his bail bonds business.
Also charged in the investigation were Ellis' wife, Debra, and employee Justin Gilbert. Debra Ellis also took a plea deal and was sentenced in February to probation. A judge dismissed the charges against Gilbert in June.
Pleading to bogus theft claim, misused EBT cards
David Ellis originally was charged with two counts of unauthorized use of a credit card, reduced in his plea deal to misdemeanor identity theft, for buying food with several EBT cards, the government program formerly known as food stamps. According to the original complaints, Ellis obtained the EBT cards from clients in payment for bail bond services.
In his plea, Ellis admitted to making purchases on two dates in February 2021 with the cards, both for amounts less than $500.
The one felony to which Ellis pleaded guilty, insurance fraud, was the result of his conduct during the investigation. According to the complaint, police serving a search warrant seized Ellis' phone in August 2021. The next day, Ellis filed a claim with his phone insurer reporting his phone had been stolen from his residence. The insurer shipped him a replacement phone.
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He was sentenced on all three counts Dec. 8 to two years of probation in lieu of a nine-year suspended prison sentence, as well as fines totaling almost $3,000.
Debra Ellis originally faced five charged related to the misused EBT cards. She previously pleaded guilty on two unauthorized use of credit card charges and received two years' probation and more than $1,700 in fines.
Dismissed charges of prosecution, unlicensed bonding
As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dismissed the four prostitution charges against David Ellis.
Other charges were thrown out by the court. Ellis and Gilbert, who were both state-licensed bondsmen, were charged with multiple counts of fraudulent sales practice for allegedly allowing an employee who was not licensed or eligible to hold a license to negotiate and approve bail bonds on their behalf.
The two asked the court to dismiss the charges, and on June 29, Judge Lawrence McLellan agreed. McLellan found that it was not clear from the record whether the employee ever actually initiated any bonds or simply performed customer service and clerical work for bonds approved by Ellis and Gilbert. Even if she did cross the line, though, McLellan wrote, there was no evidence of any intent to defraud, or indeed any evidence that any client or insurer had been defrauded.
Attorney Nick Sarcone, who represented Ellis, said it was important for his client to defend the integrity of his business.
"Nothing Mr. Ellis pled guilty to had anything to do with his bail bonding business," he said in an email. "In that respect, Mr. Ellis feels vindicated."
Always Affordable Bail Bonds is no longer accepting new business, although Sarcone said some business operations may take some time to wind down due to previously issued bonds still in effect in pending cases.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa bail bondsman accused of prostitution pleads to insurance fraud
