Three Bail Agents Arrested in Collier County Investigation

A year long investigation by the Collier County Sheriff's office into the business practices of a local bail bond company resulted in the arrest of three bail agents.

Joseph Houston, the bail bond company's owner, had been arrested on similar charges in the past. He and the other two agents are being accused of soliciting business from inside the jail.

Investigators found that at least four inmates who are unlicensed were referring business to Houston's bail bond companies. In return, Houston would allow long-distance telephone calls, three-way telephone calls, and placed money in the commissary account for the inmates.

Joseph Houston's family is claiming that he is a target of racial discrimination because the businesses our owned by a black man.Emma Houston, the defendant's mother, said that she can't believe we are living in a society today with so much prejudice in Collier County.

Fake Doctor Skips On Bail Bond

Mario Nieves Perez, 45, will be held without bail once captured for failing to appear in court yesterday. Originally, the Defendant had posted a $20,000.00 bail bond on four felony counts of practicing medicine without a license.

Since his release and failure to appear, the criminal complaint filed against Perez charges 18 counts of practicing medicine without a license, 10 counts of mayhem, and one count of elder abuse.

Perez allegedly was charging $100 for injections at a salon. The procedure performed by a doctor usually cost $500 to $2,500.00. Perez also admitted to the police in his original arrest that he was performing injections for 18 months and had done other cosmetic procedures as well.