Federal Bail Bond
A federal bond is similar to the standard bail bonds an individual can expect to pay however there are some areas of difference when posting this kind of bail. Federal bonds will be posted when an individual is put on trial for a federal charge instead of a state or local charge.
The two major differences in bonding with this type are first that the defendant will have to pay a 15% fee instead of the standard 10% fee for the additional services rendered. The additional 5% cost covers the extra time and services that will need to be provided during such as collecting financial records and arranging a nebbia hearing.
The second major difference comes with what is called a “nebia hearing”. This is a hearing to determine if the defendant’s assets qualify as collateral for the bond. In addition to this the bail schedule may vary slightly for federal charges if an individual is used to checking this to determine an average bail cost.
Nebia Hearing
So what is a nebia hearing and why must this be done? Since the majority of federal charges relate to a crime that produces monetary value for a defendant, a nebia hearing analyzes the assets used by the defendant as well as how they came into possession to determine if they can be applied as collateral for a federal bond. Obviously if someone is on trial for bank robbery, money laundering or drug trafficking it would server against the judicial system to allow a defendant to use the proceeds of illicit activity to secure their temporary freedom.
