The bail man is richer than the thief

Career criminal Julius Anthony Keeler made a plea deal to settle five criminal cases in San Diego County and was sentenced to four years in prison on October 19. He is being held at the George Bailey Detention Facility in Otay Mesa.

In the plea deal he signed in August, Keeler, now 31, admitted multiple felonies in two cases in exchange for all charges to be dismissed in three other cases.

Keeler admitted that he entered an LA Fitness gym with intent to commit theft and that he stole the ID of a person from a locker and then used that ID to make a purchase. In a separate case, he admitted stealing more than $950 in both money and property, a crime committed while he was out on bail for another case.

Keeler is familiar with the bail-bond system: records show he paid a $5000 fee to Bail Hotline Bail Bonds to guarantee $50,000 bail for one case — that was in June 2014. Keeler paid another $5000 fee to the same bond company for another bail-out on his next arrest, in February 2015; Keeler paid another $5000 fee to the same company for the next bond in his next case, in April 2015.

As part of his plea deal, Keeler admitted he has one prior “strike” conviction for felony robbery out of Riverside County; that case was settled in 2002 when he was 18 years old. Prosecutors claim Keeler has multiple prior convictions for thefts and burglaries that resulted in prison sentences, in the years 2004, 2009, and 2010, in San Diego County.

At hearings earlier this year, deputies testified that they reviewed surveillance video at Walgreens and CVS stores in Escondido and Rancho Bernardo, and they identified Keeler as the man who used stolen credit cards to buy gift cards and merchandise.

Court records show that a victim identified as Chad had his American Express card stolen from his locker at the LA Fitness in San Marcos, and he wants restitution in the amount of $1090 to replace his wallet, driver’s license, cash, and wedding ring.

A probation report declared that Keeler was born in Oxnard, and his most recent address was listed in the 4000 block of Saddlehorn in Oceanside.

San Diego Superior Court judge Michael J. Popkins announced the four-year prison term for Keeler, who was represented by private counsel R. L. Mercer on October 19. At that time, it was noted that Keeler had credit for 200 days' custody, so far.