Bill Hethcock; The Gazette.

A Colorado Springs bail bondsman stands to lose $185,000 if he can’t find cross-dressing “supermodel” Storme Aerison in the next three months. Bondsman Dennis Blackwell appeared Monday in court without Aerison, who has been wanted since Feb. 12 for failing to appear at a court hearing in which he was supposed to enter a plea to charges of felony theft, fraud and bail violations. Fourth Judicial District Judge Ed Colt set a June 18 deadline for Blackwell to find Aerison or fork over the $185,000 total bond set in four cases. Aerison has become known nationally for posing as a female cheerleader and a “supermodel.” Aerison was born Charles Daugherty. He also uses the name Shannon Ireland and a half-dozen other identities. In 1990, at the age of 26, he was arrested for criminal impersonation for enrolling at Coronado High School as a 17-year-old and joining the female cheerleading squad. During the past decade, police have investigated allegations that Aerison posed as a model and defrauded photographers, calendar companies and overseas hotels out of money, airline tickets and rooms by promising to advertise their businesses in calendars featuring the self-described “supermodel.” He’d take the money but the calendars would never materialize, police say. Prosecutors allege Aerison swindled $15,000 from a woman for plane tickets to a photo shoot in Tahiti. They also allege Aerison opened an account with Digital Federal Credit Union in 1999, deposited $185,000 in fake checks and then made withdrawals and purchases that ultimately cost the credit union about $30,000. Finally, prosecutors contend Aerison conned a local man by picking him up, winning his trust, getting his Social Security number and opening credit card accounts in his name, accumulating $50,000 in charges.

Bill McKeown; The Gazette

‘Supermodel’ arrested/ Fugitive cross-dresser found in Florida apartment

Runaway cross-dressing “supermodel” Storme Aerison’s spring break came to a halt early Wednesday in a Daytona Beach, Fla., apartment when he was arrested on a fugitive warrant from Colorado. The arrest capped the latest caper by the Colorado Springs native, who was born Charles Daugherty but later transformed himself into “Storme,” a vivacious vamp with honey-colored hair and a penchant for Tahitian vacations. Aerison is wanted by the 4th Judicial District Court in Colorado Springs for failing to appear on felony charges of theft and bail bond violations. Police allege Aerison, who is listed as a male on his driver’s license but reportedly considers himself all girl, is a con man who has scammed tens of thousands of dollars from people. Bail bondsman Dennis Blackwell, who stood to lose $155,000 in bond money after Aerison failed to show for a Feb. 12 court hearing, said he found Aerison’s location through the mother of the model’s longtime companion. The bondsman said the couple had apparently visited the woman in Alaska before heading for Florida. Blackwell said when he and Daytona Beach police knocked on the door of the couple’s rented apartment, Aerison’s friend initially denied Aerison was there but eventually allowed a search. Police found the fugitive hiding under clothing in the closet of a back bedroom. At the time of the arrest, the “supermodel” was wearing a 5 o’clock shadow and a girl’s T-shirt with little hearts on it, Blackwell said. Aerison made national headlines – and landed a spot on the Sally Jessy RaphaelTV show – when he was arrested in 1990, at the age of 26, for enrolling at Coronado High School as a 17-year-old and joining the female cheerleading squad. He was given two years’ probation on a felony impersonation conviction and was ordered to receive psychiatric treatment. In the past year and a half, prosecutors allege Aerison: Stuck Digital Federal Credit Union with $30,000 in losses after depositing $185,000 in fake checks and then making withdrawals and purchases. Swindled $15,000 from a woman for plane tickets to Tahiti after promising that the woman’s teen-age son would be part of the model’s photo crew. Traveled to Tahiti despite a judge’s explicit order that he not until the credit union case was resolved. Conned a local man by picking him up, winning his trust, getting his Social Security number and opening credit card accounts in his name, accumulating $50,000 in charges. Blackwell said if he had not been able to find Aerison, he would have been forced to foreclose on his parents’ home, which they had put up for bond collateral. Aerison remains in the Daytona Beach Jail, awaiting extradition. Wanted Storme Aerison is wanted by the 4th Judicial District Court in Colorado Springs for failing to appear on felony charges of theft and bail bond violations. -CUTLINE- Storme Aerison (Photo ran on METRO1)

Amy Curtis Asay; The Gazette

June Waller was applying for a job at the Colorado Springs Criminal Justice Center. She noticed several bail bondsmen. I could do that, she thought. After Waller did some research and a local bondsman took her under his wing, an insurance company agreed to contract Waller. She has been writing bail bonds for five years. Bail bonds providers merge insurance, banking and the skills of a parole officer to carve out a living in what some would consider an undesirable business shadowland. Yet without their services, the state would face overcrowded jails and the task of monitoring and tracking down all defendants at taxpayers’ expense. It’s a curious profession. It involves severe financial risk; a reputation that is mediocre at best; and dubious, potentially dangerous clients who are in jail, and then can possibly skip town on a whim, leaving the bondsman responsible and empty-handed. “When they come into my office, I’m not here to judge whether they are guilty or not. I leave that to our jury system,” said Dennis Blackwell, owner of Bail Bonds R EZ in Colorado Springs. “In order to do this, you have to have an open mind. I’m sure a criminal defense attorney would tell you the same thing.” Ken Becker of Ken Becker’s Five Percent Down Bail Bonds compares his job’s reputation to cleaning out portable toilets: “If you don’t like the smell, you shouldn’t be doing it.” Becker said a fledgling association of bonds providers is starting, with the goal of setting some industry standards. Yet it’s been difficult to get a professional group together, Becker said. The reason: They don’t trust one another. “We’re the worst,” he said. “We’re the most greedy people in the world.” According to the Colorado Division of Insurance, the agency that regulates the bonds industry, there are about 500 licensed bonds providers in Colorado. For Waller, 62, who runs A and J Waller Bail Bonds, the flexible hours – freedom from 40 years of working 9-to-5 – has made the job worth it. To enter the field, she had to take a two-day bail bonds seminar in preparation for a licensing test on Colorado statutes. She also had to sign a contract with a surety company, an insurance agency specializing in bail bonds. Almost all bonds providers operate as agents for larger insurance companies, most of which are located on the East Coast, Waller said. Also, Waller needed $50,000 to start a build-up fund – a buffer in case one of her clients should jump bail on a large bond amount. But she could not get a small-business loan because of what she said is a negative perception of the industry. Some bonds providers have put up property or houses as collateral for the build-up fund. Waller used her savings. Legislation that became effective this year requires that in addition to the classes on state statutes, bonds providers must take 16 hours of bail-recovery training, which deals with proper arrest techniques. The new rules are designed to prevent bounty hunters and bail bonds providers from infringing on a defendant’s civil rights. Waller said the business can be financially lucrative. Bonds providers make a 15 percent commission off each bond. But that only works if one employs a good bail recovery agent – a bounty hunter, that is. Some bonds providers contract out the bounty-hunter work. Blackwell of Bail Bonds R EZ pays a full-time investigator about $35,000 a year plus expenses to track down clients. Here’s how the bail-bonds system works: After a judge sets a bail amount and a trial date, a jailed person has the choice of either paying the bail or staying in jail. Individuals who don’t use a bail bondsmen usually have to forfeit either cash, title to property or some other assets as bail. These assets are to be returned when the defendant reappears in court, regardless of whether the defendant is later found guilty. The bonds provider, on the other hand, doesn’t have to forfeit any assets when representing a jailed client. Instead, because of their insurance-company backing, they can sign a bond – a contract with the court. This promises that the defendant will appear on the designated court date or the bond will be paid in full by the bonds provider. For this service, bonds providers charge their 15 percent commission, or $150 from a $1,000 bail bond. Most bails are in this range, with some entering five-figures, or even six-figures, for some offences. However, after a bond is 10 days old, the client can no longer receive a refund for appearing in court. This opens the door to abuse, said Becker. An unethical bonds provider can bail a client out, wait 10 days, and return the client to jail. The bonds provider can then pocket the 15 percent service fee. And because the client is now once again sitting in jail, the bondsman doesn’t have to worry about the client missing the court date – the biggest business risk in the industry. Becker would like to see the image of bonds providers improve, but it’s hard when the clients are in such a vulnerable position. “When you’re in jail, you’ll do anything to get out,” Becker said. “You’ll even swear to the Lord.” When defendants miss their court date, the bonds provider, called the guarantor, must track down and bring the defendant back to court to avoid paying the full bond. The forfeiture of a large bail sum, maybe $100,000, can put a bondsman completely out of business. But the cost of retrieving bail-jumpers also cuts into profits. One of Blackwell’s investigators, who wished to remain anonymous, said he tracked one client to a mental hospital in Charlotte, N.C. “They threw the (client) out in his underwear and wouldn’t let him back in.” They spent 36 hours in the car, making their way back to Colorado justice. In cases like this, when a client flees to another state, Blackwell has to decide whether retrieval is worth the trouble. Would it cost more than the 15 percent bond service fee to drag the client back to Colorado? Blackwell said he can sometimes charge the bond co-signer (usually a relative or friend of the defendant) for the retrieval costs, but frequently the co-signer disappears as easily as the client. “It’s a hard business, to be honest with you,” Blackwell said. “There’s at least five-six bondsmen who go out of business every year. I’m probably one of the youngest, agewise, but one of the veterans.” Blackwell is 32. He said he writes 300 to 400 bonds a month. About 10 percent of his clients fail to appear for court dates. Out of that group, Blackwell said nine out of 10 just “spaced it out” or simply didn’t feel like going to court. Usually the problem is resolved with a phone call to the client’s house. Blackwell escorts them back to the courthouse where the client will either be thrown back in jail or the court date rescheduled. That decision is up to the judge. One plus is that bonds providers can choose their clients, Becker said. Jailed individuals have to use those bonds providers who are actually willing to work with them. Bonds providers can impose parole-like conditions as part of the contract, requiring regular phone calls or check-ins. If a client is reluctant to follow through, the bonds provider can throw the client back in jail, Becker said. Becker said he has $3 million wrapped up in bail bonds at any given time. He spends $13,000 a month on phone book ads. On the low end, a bonds provider could make $20,000 a year, Becker said. But some local bondsmen make at least that much in a month. Becker, whose wife and daughter are also bonds providers, said he falls somewhere in between. – Story editor and headline writer David Fondler FOR INFORMATION Individuals who feel cheated by or have a complaint about a bail bonds provider can call the Colorado Division of Insurance, (800) 930-3745. In addition, the division has a Web site that provides consumer-information tips for those who need bail bond information: www.dora.state.co.us/insurance. Those without Internet access can write for a pamphlet at Colorado Division of Insurance, Bail Bonds Brochure, 1560 Broadway, suite 850, Denver, CO 80202. “There’s at least five-six bondsmen who go out of business every year. I’m probably one of the youngest, agewise, but one of the veterans.” Dennis Blackwell @CUTLINE: Mark Reis/The Gazette – Dennis Blackwell works with his sister Janice Titus at Bail Bonds R EZ in Colorado Springs earlier this month. Blackwell employs a full-time investigator to track down clients who fail to appear for their court dates. One of his clients was traced to North Carolina and was returned to Colorado.

February 4, 2007 – 12:00AM CARY LEIDER VOGRIN/THE GAZETTE

To our readers: This report accompanies the day’s top story about frequent visitors to the El Paso Criminal Justice Center. Allaine Loggins says when she walks out of the Women’s Correctional Facility in Cañon City, she’s putting crime behind her. No more tussles with her boyfriend. No more theft. No assaults or drugs. She’ll be a better mom and grandmother, a law-abiding citizen who is going to break the cycle of crime in her family. It’s the type of promise judges and jailers hear every day. After learning of her 66 visits to the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center and two stints in state prison during the past 20 years, it’s easy to raise an eyebrow at her claims, no matter how emphatic. “I do not want to see another courthouse, another CJC, another prison,” Loggins said in a prison interview. “I just turned 45 years old. It’s time to make a change, it’s time to let it go.” “You won’t see Loggins back in – not this Loggins back up in CJC. Nope. I’m through. And you can write it down. I’m through.” Loggins has been in CJC seven times in the past two years. Her history in lockups dates to 1986, when she was brought in on an assault charge. Loggins’ list of bookings fills more than five pages and includes charges linked to shoplifting, DUI’s and drugs, harassment, traffic cases and domestic violence. She also was picked up several times for failure to appear in court for her cases. A printout of court cases with her name on them is nearly an inch thick. “All this is me? Lord Jesus!” she said when presented with a stack of papers bearing her name. Was she surprised? “Yes!” she said, before admitting: “Well, not really.” Loggins was most recently at CJC in January 2006 before being sent to Cañon City the next month. She was sentenced on a probation violation in a 2001 check forgery case and an incident in which she reportedly punched a woman at a restaurant where she and one of her daughters went early one morning after celebrating Loggins’ birthday. When police showed up, Loggins identified herself as another of her daughters to avoid being brought in on an outstanding warrant for trespassing warrant. “I didn’t want to go to jail,” she said of the incident. “I had a warrant on my name.” Since 1986, the 1980 Mitchell High School graduate has spent 903 days in the county jail — nearly 2½ years, according to Paula Presley, chief of the detentions bureau for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. The cost to taxpayers: between $31,605 and $52,374, depending on such factors as medical needs. The figures don’t include her state prison stays. Loggins said she can’t remember when she began breaking the law, but shoplifting was among her first crimes. “Stores here, stores there,” she said. “I can’t remember the first time I went to jail, that’s how long it’s been.” She was booked on shoplifting charges three times in 1987 alone. “A lot of times I was just booked into CJC. You know how you book in and bond out? I did a lot of bonding out,” she said. “I paid for Dennis Blackwell’s wedding,” she joked, referring to the bondsman who got her business over the years. Indeed, Blackwell recognized her name immediately. “That just goes to show how long I’ve known her,” he said of her comment about his wedding. “I’ve been married going on 10 years. “I’ve bonded her out numerous times over the years. I kind of know her whole family,” he said. Loggins blames much of her time in jail on domestic disputes with her longtime boyfriend, Moses Cobb, with whom she plans on reuniting when she’s freed. “That’s my other half. I don’t know if you can call that love or not … But I guess it is. I do love him and I know he loves me. It’s weird, it’s crazy.” Cobb’s record includes more than a dozen domestic violence cases, all involving Loggins. He’s been in jail nine times himself, according to CJC records. Blackwell knows Cobb, too. “They’re just not meant to be together, but they can’t stay away from each other,” he said. Cobb, 51, hasn’t been in any trouble since Loggins has been in prison, but he said he loves her enough to give their relationship another go. They’re talking about marriage. “I’m drawn to her — since I first met her,” he said. He said he’s praying for peace when they’re again together. Loggins said she’s not only hoping to be a better grandmother to 10 grandchildren— two others have died — but also a role model to them and her own four grown kids. Three of her five siblings also are now locked up. “We got to break the cycle,” she said. “My grandkids can’t be in this kind of environment.” “Why should they believe me? I’ve got to show ‘em. Once they see me in action, maybe they’ll want to do it.” She is scheduled to be released in April.

By ANTHONY LANE Bobby Brown: As seen on television. Photo By Sean Cayton The episode starts in a dimly lit bar. “Hollywood,” a bounty hunter, ends a phone call and strides purposefully toward his employer. “Hey, yo, man. This dude just called me,” he says. “He’s got some information about Charlie. I’m gonna meet him first thing in the morning at the office.” They confer before Hollywood heads for the door, preparing for an early-morning meeting that could give leads to the fugitive’s whereabouts. “Blaze,” a local bail bond agent, bids him good night, and the video shifts briefly to what could be an outtake from a MADD commercial. “Be safe, man,” he says. “You only had one, right?” Blaze is played by Rick Harper, owner of Express Bail Out in Colorado Springs, in a sort of low-cost, unpolished alternative to the Dog the Bounty Hunter series seen on the A&E Television Network. Full Story Here

PUEBLO – Student leaders at Colorado State University-Pueblo will receive additional recognition and a cash award thanks to the generosity of the Blackwell and Titus families. Homer Blackwell, Dennis Blackwell, and Janice Titus have established an endowed award, the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award, to be presented annually to a student leader who “displays exceptional leadership skills, is very involved with the campus community, and contributes to make CSU-Pueblo a better place.” The award honors the memory of Diane Karen Blackwell, who passed away in May of this year. “My mom was an inspiration, my best friend,” said Janice Titus. “She not only inspired me, but almost each and every person she came into contact with. I would like her memory and legacy to continue to inspire our future leaders of America.” The Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award will be presented to a student at the annual student leadership recognition ceremony in April/May. The award will be given to an outstanding student leader from a pool of nominations. Candidates for the award will have excelled as student leaders with a distinguished record of extraordinary service, spirit, advocacy and involvement within the University community. Recipients will have a history of positive and significant accomplishments resulting in major contributions that enhance the quality of life at the University. Other criteria for the award include being a current CSU-Pueblo student enrolled in six or more credit hours, junior class rank or higher, and a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 or above. “Working with the Titus and Blackwell families to establish this generous endowment was a moving experience for me,” said DenaSue Potestio, president of the CSU-Pueblo Foundation. “The purpose of the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award is to inspire young people to become active and intelligent leaders, in the name and memory of a very special friend of CSU-Pueblo. Diane is also the grandmother of two of our most outstanding current student leaders: Steve Titus, 2nd term president of the Associated Students Government (ASG) and Britney Titus, ASG senator for Student Empowerment,” said Potestio. If the recipient of the Diane Blackwell President’s Leadership Award is a graduating senior, this graduate will receive his/her diploma at the commencement ceremony in the Spring directly following the recipient of the Threlkeld Prize for Excellence, another prestigious University award. Colorado State University – Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.