AS I LAY DYING Frontman Paid $160,000 To Get Released From Jail

According to the San Diego Reader, AS I LAY DYING frontman Tim Lambesis or his agent paid $160,000 in fees as a "premium" to All-Pro Bail Bonds (described as "California's fastest-growing retail bail agency") on May 30 and was released the same day from Vista jail, in Northern San Diego County. The 32-year-old singer spent twenty-four days in custody after being arrested on suspicion of soliciting the murder of his estranged wife.

Lambesis had his bail lowered from $3 million to $2 million during a May 17 bail review hearing.

Prosecutors initially requested that Superior Court Judge Martin Staven set Lambesis' bail at $20 million, saying the singer remains "substantially motivated to kill his wife."

Lambesis' defense attorney, Tom Warwick, had asked for bail of $250,000.

If an individual is arrested and bail is set by the court, the individual can secure his/her release while the case is pending by placing cash or property equal to the face amount of the bail as collateral with the court. Once the case is concluded, the court will return the collateral to the depositor.

If the arrested individual does not have cash or property sufficient to cover the face amount of bail, they can use the services of a bail agent or "bondsman." The bail agent agrees to secure the release of the accused individual in return for a fee between 8% and 10% of the face amount of the bail. The arrested individual is also required to provide a co-signor that will take responsibility for the face amount of bail.

Once the fee has been negotiated and a co-signor agrees to take responsibility for the bail, the bail agent delivers the bond to the jail and the arrested individual is released from custody.

Lambesis was arrested on May 7 on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

The singer, who at one time has said he considered himself to be a Christian and acknowledged that he found inspiration for lyrical content from biblical texts, was taken into custody without incident at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in Oceanside, California, according to San Diego Sheriff's Department.

Warwick blamed Lambesis' steroid use for the alleged murder-for-hire plot. He also revealed that Lambesis was going through steroid withdrawal while in custody.

Lambesis' attorney said the "gym culture" led to "changes in [the singer's] physiological and mental status," with Tim's bodybuilding obsession causing him to go from 170 to 220 pounds after first taking supplements, then steroids. "[He] was not the same person. He was irritable and lost God."

Prosecutors allege Lambesis had twice told a man at a gym that he wanted his wife killed, then met with an undercover detective known as "Red", and gave the agent an envelope containing $1,000 in cash, photographs of his wife, and the security gate code to her house. He also allegedly told the agent the dates he would be with the couple's three adopted children, in order to give himself an alibi.

"When specifically asked do you want her dead, he said, 'Yes that's exactly what I want,'" Deputy District Attorney Claudia Grasso told the judge. "The victim now is terrified and living in seclusion."

In court, Grasso said that Lambesis did not flinch when told the hit on his wife would cost $20,000. "He was very willing to pay that," she said, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Lambesis, who was originally booked into jail on suspicion of two felonies — conspiracy and murder-for-hire — was ordered to wear a GPS monitor and turn in his passport and was warned by the judge that he must stay away from his immediate family. The conspiracy charge was dropped before Lambesis was arraigned.

Tim's wife Meggan filed papers in September 2012 in San Diego Superior Court seeking a dissolution of the couple's marriage.