Yep, I'm that guy. The one who made a couple of bad choices and ended up in a heap of a mess. I suppose the good news is that I am able to share my story and hopefully help others in my situation do it better than I did. Anyone who finds themselves in the market for a bail bond can learn a thing or two from my experience. Basically, it went down like this.

So, I headed out to our favorite bar to hang with some buddies from work. It's only nine miles from my house, so I've always assumed it was a safe place to hang out and that getting back to the house would be no problem. After dinner and a few drinks, I grabbed my keys and headed out the door. I felt like I was fine to make it home that short distance. Unfortunately, worst case scenario occurred and just outside of the parking lot I was surprised by the view of the flashing lights in my mirror.

Of course before I knew what was happening I was blowing in a breathalyzer machine and taking a ride to the police station. Needless to say I was booked, fingerprinted, photographed for my very own mug shot, and guided to the drunk tank to wait for my bail to be set. Unfortunately, mistake number two was just around the corner. I had a few unpaid parking tickets that I had meant to deal with but slipped my mind.

Judges don't take too kindly to drunk drivers, especially those with prior indiscretions. He set my bail nice and high so that there was no way I could get my hands on that cash right away. I made a call to a friend who offered to locate a bail bondsman for me. I'd seen several of those places on the way in, and figured that was my only hope for getting out of this nasty place. The good news is, he got me out of jail. The bad news is when it was all said and done, I owed him a big fat fee for posting bail for me. Of course, having a bounty hunter after me didn't sound like a good plan either, so I rounded up the funds and paid him in full. But, the adventure was far from over.

Not only was I out the money I had to pay him, but I ended up having to hire a criminal defense lawyer big bucks to defend me in court. Made that bail fee seem like chump change. I ended up with a lawyer fee, a guilty verdict, and a huge fine from the court. I realize now it would have made much more sense to make that first call to a lawyer.

Now, I know better and tell everyone I know to hire an attorney from the get-go. If I had called him first, my lawyer could have gotten me out of jail, and maybe even gotten my bail reduced. Then, I would have just spent money on him and my defense process and could have avoided the big guy at the bail bond agency. Hopefully there won't be a next time, but I do share my story so others can avoid some of my trauma. Bottom line, if you find yourself in jail, call a lawyer first.