The Montana State Auditor’s office suspended the licenses of Mr. Bail’s Billings location and manager, Anna Yarbro, last March, prompting the company’s attorney to seek an appeal. A hearing has now been scheduled for August 14.
The bail bonds company had been under investigation for six months prior to a fatal shooting in Missoula involving four of its bondsmen. Consequently, the auditor’s office issued a license suspension and a cease-and-desist order for all operations in Montana. Additionally, the licenses of two bondsmen charged in the shooting were revoked, and investigations into two other unlicensed employees are ongoing.
Ted Bidon, head of investigations at the auditor’s office, noted a rise in incidents involving bounty hunters after Mr. Bail increased its activity in Montana. This comes despite the passage of a 2023 law meant to regulate the industry more strictly. Bidon stated, “As the company Mr. Bail started ramping up activity…we started seeing stuff happen again.”
Mr. Bail, a Virginia-based company with nearly 30 nationwide locations, has been active in Montana since 2017. The investigation began following a complaint from the Billings Police Department alleging unlicensed bond issuance directed by Yarbro.
In the incident on March 4, bondsmen Brandon Wakefield and Austin Mistretta, alongside employees Jorrell Nagel and Ryan Smith, sought to apprehend Joshua Wykle in Missoula. Court documents reveal Mistretta pointed what looked like a rifle at Wykle’s vehicle. The car began to reverse as Nagel moved behind it, prompting Wakefield to assume a “shooter’s stance.” Wykle died at the scene, and police documents identify Wakefield as the shooter.
Wakefield and Mistretta, both issued temporary licenses just weeks before the event, pleaded not guilty to their respective charges. Meanwhile, Nagel and Smith, who were unlicensed yet armed and in body armor, had failed the licensing test multiple times. The Missoula County prosecutor has not disclosed whether additional charges will be brought against them.
The ongoing state investigation could result in fines for the bondsmen if they are found to have breached state laws, as previously stated by the auditor’s office.
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