NEWS RELEASE: Former Columbus Bail Bond Agent Sentenced for $6,600 Felony Theft

For Immediate Release
August 28, 2024

Former Columbus Bail Bond Agent Sentenced for $6,600 Felony Theft

COLUMBUS - Ohio Department of Insurance Director Judith L. French announced that former bail bond agent Erica Brim, of Columbus, was sentenced in the Fairfield County Common Pleas Court to three years of community control for felony theft. Brim was also ordered to repay restitution totaling $6,600 and is prohibited from acting as a bonding agent in the future.

An investigation by the Ohio Department of Insurance revealed that Brim accepted money from a consumer to post a bail bond in Fairfield County but failed to post the bond with the clerk of court. On November 9, 2018, a consumer deposited a cashier's check into Brim's bank account for her to post the bail bond for her fiancé but Brim did not post the bail bond and never refunded the money.

Brim surrendered her license to the Ohio Department of Insurance on July 24, 2019, for cause, specifically for "improperly withholding, misappropriating, or converting any money or property received in the course of doing insurance business."

The Ohio Department of Insurance referred Brim's case to the Fairfield County Prosecutor, resulting in her indictment on charges of theft, a fourth-degree felony, and telecommunications fraud, a third-degree felony. Brim pleaded guilty to one count of theft as part of a plea agreement. Brim was sentenced on July 10.

Ohioans who suspect insurance fraud or insurance professional misconduct are encouraged to report it to the Ohio Department of Insurance at 800-686-1527 or insurance.ohio.gov.

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