Bail Bondsman Had Inside Help Boosting Business, Deputies Say

LAND O’ LAKES, FL — A 32-year-old Land O’ Lakes man faces criminal charges after Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say he paid a prisoner to boost his bail bonds business.

According to the sheriff’s office, Christopher Middleton, owner of Diesel Bail Bonds in Land O’ Lakes, was arrested Monday. Deputies say Middleton paid Corey Bloom, an inmate and convicted felon at the Land O’ Lakes Jail, to solicit business for him on the inside.

The alleged activity occurred between December 2015 and February 2016 when Middleton “put or had his wife (Marylyn Middleton) put monies totaling $685 into Bloom’s phone and commissary accounts,” an email from the sheriff’s office said.

Middleton was charged with bail bond agent violation and was booked into the Land O’ Lakes Jail.

Bloom, 32, has been arrested in Pasco County on multiple occasions, jail records show. His most recent arrest related to violation of probation charges and possession of marijuana. He was released from the Land O’ Lakes Jail on Feb. 22 following a Sept. 29, 2015, arrest.

Middleton’s bond was set at $5,000, the sheriff’s office said.

Booking photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff's Office

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