A bail-bond company that posted a $50,000 appearance bond last summer to get a Sierra Vista man out of jail pending trial on money laundering charges has until April 27 to apprehend their client or risk forfeiting the entire bond to the court.
Azteca Bail Bonds LLC wrote the bond in June 2019 for Miguel Angel Bustamante after he and two co-defendants were indicted for a scheme to launder more than $50,000 of illicit drug money from 2015 to 2018. But Bustamante, 29, failed to appear at Cochise County Superior Court for a Feb. 3 review hearing in advance of a mid-2020 trial.
At the hearing, defense counsel Juan Pablo Flores told Judge Timothy Dickerson he had not been heard from Bustamante and did not know his client’s whereabouts. Dickerson then issued a nationwide arrest warrant which requires posting of a second $50,000 bond if Bustamante wants to get out of jail again prior to trial.
The judge has ordered Rene Guerrero, the owner of Tucson-based Azteca Bail Bonds, to appear in court April 27 for a hearing on whether the $50,000 bond from June 2019 should be forfeited due to Bustamante’ non-appearance. At that hearing, Dickerson will determine whether Bustamante’s release conditions were violated, and if so, whether the violation is excused or unexcused.
Dickerson has discretion to decide whether any unexcused violation should result in forfeiture of all or part of the posted bond. Anyone who pledged collateral to Azteca has standing to address the court during the hearing.
Court records show Bustamante faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of all five Class 2 felonies listed in the indictment. The charges involve directing a money laundering operation, promoting money laundering activity, and participating in a criminal syndicate.
Dickerson will set a new trial date once Bustamante is back in custody. In the meantime, Flores was granted permission to withdraw as defense attorney.
Also indicted with Bustamante in May 2019 was his brother Jose Lorenzo Bustamante and sister-in-law Adanira Bustamante. They signed plea agreements with the Cochise County Attorney’s Office in February to guarantee themselves short prison terms.
According to court records, Adanira Bustamante will be sentenced March 23 to 3.5 years in state prison for money laundering in the second degree involving U.S. currency in excess of $50,000. Then on April 6, Jose Bustamante will be sentenced to five years for financing a criminal syndicate with the intent to further the syndicate’s criminal objective.
Both are out of custody pending their sentencing hearings.
Anyone with information on Miguel Bustamante’s whereabouts is asked to call Azteca Bail Bond at 520-624-7573 or the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office at 520-432-9500.