MA: Brockton court staff stunned by $40,000 cash bail

MA: Brockton court staff stunned by $40,000 cash bail
SOURCE | 8/19/2010 | AUTHOR




Thomas J. Colbert Jr., 52, of Brockton, a suspect in connection with the drug bust in Abington, where some 700 pounds of marijuana was seized on Monday. /Abington Police Department photo

BROCKTON — A relative of the Brockton suspect in the massive Abington marijuana seizure stunned court officials Tuesday when she walked into the clerk’s office at Brockton District Court carrying $40,000 cash bail.
“I’ve been here over 21 years. I’ve never seen that before,” Assistant Clerk Kevin Leach said in a telephone interview. “Most times it would be done with a bank draft, or something like that.”
Leach said a woman who identified herself as an aunt of Thomas J. Colbert Jr., 52, of 53 Eastfield Drive, Brockton, walked into the criminal clerk’s office unattended at 2:20 p.m. Tuesday holding a plastic shopping bag.
Inside were bundles of cash in $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations. Each bundle was wrapped with an elastic band.
The woman told Leach the money had been collected from a group of family members to post Colbert’s bail, set by a judge at $40,000, Leach said.
Leach said he took the money into a back room and counted it twice with the help of a court employee. It took Leach 40 minutes to count the money the first time.
Why the woman had risked carrying such a large amount of cash in public is anybody’s guess, Leach said.
Colbert is scheduled to be back in court on Sept. 14 for a probable-cause hearing.
Colbert was arrested about 1 p.m. Monday after Abington police were tipped off that a possible drug shipment was due to arrive at the YRC Worldwide shipping facility on Route 18 at 12:15 p.m.
Police say Colbert rented a box truck from a Whitman company and arrived almost immediately after the two crates arrived at the facility. The shipment came from the Los Angeles-area town of Huntington Beach, Calif.
The original sender, still unknown, paid YRC Worldwide an extra $500 to monitor the shipment, but did not include the sender’s name or point of destination.
YRC Worldwide’s regional security became suspicious and notified the Abington shipping facility at 1555 Bedford St. (Route 18) about a possible drug haul.
Abington Deputy Police Chief Christopher J. Cutter said police search dogs quickly sniffed out marijuana inside the crates, which were still on the loading dock. Colbert was placed under arrest at the scene.
Police later obtained a warrant to search the wooden crates. Inside, they found about 700 pounds of marijuana in 17 bales of different sizes. Each bale had been carefully bound in plastic shrink wrap, Spanish-language newspapers, and aluminum foil, and laced with fabric softener and grease to mask the smell of the marijuana.
Cutter said the marijuana has an estimated street value of more than $1 million. He said police are confident that the drugs were to be sold throughout the Brockton area and beyond.
He said it was the largest drug bust in the department’s history.
Police say the way the drugs were concealed and other facts indicate a professional operation that began in Mexico or a border state.
Abington police have contacted the federal Drug Enforcement Agency about the case. A DEA spokesman did not return phone calls from The Enterprise.
Colbert opened the door of his Eastfield Drive home when an Enterprise reporter knocked Wednesday afternoon. He waved his hand, said “Sorry,” and closed the door.

A dark-colored Lincoln SUV was parked in the driveway.
Colbert’s attorney, Richard Lane of South Boston, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

They seized 700 POUNDS of cannabis and they were surprised that this relative could come up with $40k? lol

Hah. I applaud him if he does get off fine.

I remember the bust on the news a little while ago. Im 20 minutes from that city, and the way Brockton is, I wouldnt even carry my wallet around, let alone $40,000. Its a pretty shitty city for the most part.

Was she wearing a sign that said she had the money??

I bet they won't use that particular carrier again. Laced with grease.....sure. This is such bull. they put grease on the outside of packages wrapped in plastic. VV

yeah im about 30 mins from brockton and its not that pretty...the bud from there is known as the brockton browns for a reason haha

Oh, that is nuts. Can't you actually get in some kind of trouble is some places for walking around with that kind of Cash ?

Have we been Freedom Act'ed out of that too........I missed that one.....

Seriously, why would you be doing something illegal by carrying that amount? I heard a story a long time ago about a guy who walked in to a Vegas casino and put down 574,000 bucks on the pass line.....

Ded........