Records on file with the county clerk of courts show that bail bondsmen posted the six-figure bonds for both men last week. All Star Bonding filed bail papers June 14 on behalf of Mathahs, and BB Bail Bonds posted Lakeman's bail on June 16, the records show.
The action surprised both Las Vegas police and prosecutors Monday because lawyers for the two defendants had been trying to get both bails reduced, arguing the amounts were excessive.
Typically, a bail bondsman might require a down payment of 10 percent or 15 percent to post bail.
Michael Cristalli, who represents the 74-year-old Mathahs, said Monday that he did not know what collateral Mathahs and his family put up.
"AlI I can tell you is that it was a very difficult endeavor for them and certainly they had to rely on a number of individuals to assist them," Cristalli said.
He added that Dr. Dipak Desai, the central figure indicted in the hepatitis outbreak, did not help with the bail.
Mathahs' former lawyer, Jack Buchanan, wrote in court papers earlier this month that his client's $500,000 bond was "tantamount to no bail at all" because of his difficult financial status.
As of late Monday, District Judge Donald Mosley still had a hearing scheduled this week on his court calendar on a request from Lakeman's attorney, Frederick Santacroce, to cut his client's bail. But observers said the bail hearing probably would not take place now.
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Santacroce said in court papers last week that the 63-year-old Lakeman is living off of Social Security and has not practiced nursing since February 2008, when word of the outbreak became public.
Desai, 60, who ran the clinics where health officials allege the hepatitis C infections occurred, is free on $1 million bail. He posted a $1 million cashier's check with the county clerk on June 7.
All three defendants are facing felony charges in a 28-count indictment, including racketeering, insurance fraud and neglect of patients.
The charges revolve around the cases of seven people health officials say were infected with the potentially deadly hepatitis C virus at Desai's Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada: one on July 25, 2007, and six on Sept. 21, 2007.
Public health investigators said the virus was spread when a nurse anesthetist during a colonoscopy would reuse a syringe to draw medication for a patient, contaminating the medication vial, which then would be used for other patients.
Lakeman and Mathahs were arrested on June 8. Lakeman was taken into custody in Columbus, Ga., where he lives, and after waiving extradition, he was transported to Las Vegas on June 15. Mathahs was arrested here.
Both Desai and Mathahs have entered not guilty pleas, but Lakeman has yet to enter a formal plea.
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© YellowBrix, Inc. Copyright 1997-2009 Two Nurse Anesthetists Charged in Las Vegas Hepatitis Case Released on $500,000 BailOriginally from: http://www.nursinglink.monster.com/news/articles/14208-two-nurse-anesthetists-charged-in-las-vegas-hepatitis-case-released-on-500000-bail
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