Everett bondsman caters to the java crowd

This is handy if you get arrested for driving after drinking too much, uh, coffee.

The coffee cup sleeve is an ad for Brandon’s Bail Bonds.

“You have to come up with new and unique ideas,” owner Brandon Drake said. “Everybody does the flashlights, matchbooks, coasters, stuff like that.”

That might work with your ordinary knave, ruffian, skel and other criminal element.

“With this economy, we’re finding a lot of decent folks are making bad decisions, such as kiting checks,” Drake said. “There’s a whole new market needing a service of this kind. What better way than coffee?”

It also gets in the hands of potential cosigners to take liability for the bond. “Folks who are employed,” he said. “That’s usually who goes to the coffee stands.”

Coffee cup ads are an economical way for businesses to tout their brand. Drake said he paid $100 per 1,300 recycled cardboard sleeves with his logo and slogan: “If the Devil made you do it, I’ll get you through it.”

He supplied sleeves to about six stands in Snohomish County, including 13 Buffalos Coffee Company on Rucker Avenue near his agency in downtown Everett.

For Buffalos owner Elizabeth LaCasse, the free sleeves are a perk.

“Anything to offset costs these days is great,” she said. “It probably saves me $25 a week.”

Still, she’s selective. She previously took sleeves from firefighters promoting CPR but turned down a sketchy repair business. Her best supplier was a casino’s coupon worth $10, but that ended when some entreprenuerial types started selling the sleeves for $5 each in the casino parking lot.

Drake and his staff frequent LaCasse’s stand. “Otherwise I might have been kind of iffy about throwing a bail bonds out there: ‘Hey, we serve coffee and we know people who will get you out of jail,’” she said.

The sleeve isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s not even good for $10 off. Bail bonding is cut-throat business.

“This industry has a touch of evil to it because you’re dealing with money and everybody wants a piece of the pie,” Drake said.

He got entangled in one of his cases in 2011 when he accepted a riding mower as bail collateral, and it turned out to have been stolen, according to court papers.

Drake has an active state license as a bail bondsman, as do a few dozen other agents in Snohomish County.

Courts and state law dictate the protocol and procedure, so it comes down to marketing to set one bail bondsman apart from the next. Bail bond offices often use garish signs and catchy slogans to stand out.

Jail Sucks Bail Bonds, a statewide company with an office in Everett, has a becausejailsucks.com domain with merchandise that includes “My grandma was Inmate of the Month” T-shirts.

Drake’s shirts have to be earned. “We used to do punch cards: Four bails and you get a free T-shirt,” he said.

He didn’t get any business from the first week of coffee sleeve promotion, but he’s optimistic. “I can’t imagine something can’t come out of it,” Drake said.

You never know, though. It could backfire.

“Maybe it will make people think twice,” said Buffalos barista Serenity Lundquist.

Andrea Brown; 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Traffic slows as it moves around the bend of northbound I-5 through north Everett on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Paving project will close I-5 lanes in Everett

Crews will close up to 4 lanes overnight for weeks to complete the $8.1 million repairs.

Top, from left: Bill Wheeler, Erica Weir and Mason Rutledge. Bottom, from left: Sam Hem, Steven Sullivan.
Candidates seek open District 1 seat in crowded race

Five people are aiming to take the open seat left after current council member Mary Fosse announced she would not run for reelection.

From left to right, Lynnwood City Council Position 3 candidates Josh Binda, Tyler Hall and Bryce Owings.
Position 3 candidates focus on affordability amid city’s growth

City Council Vice President Josh Binda is seeking a second term against challengers Tyler Hall and Bryce Owings.

South County Fire plans push-in ceremony for newest fire engine

Anybody who attends will have the opportunity to help push the engine into the station.

District 1 candidates talk financial priorities, student needs

Three newcomers — Carson Sanderson, Arun Sharma and Brian Travis — are eyeing the vacant seat on the district’s board of directors.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Snohomish man, who trained extremists, sentenced for illegal gun possession

An FBI investigation revealed Benton posted violent extremist content, neo-Nazi propaganda, and anti-Semitic materials on social media.

Ben Paul walks through QFC with Nala on Saturday, July 14, 2018 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
QFC to close Mill Creek location, part a plan to close similar stores across the nation

A state layoff and closure notice says 76 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the closure.

Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell speaks during a city council meeting on Monday, March 17, 2025 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood faces ‘substantial budget shortfall,’ mayor says

The city ended 2024 with a $4.2 million deficit, and financial statements show a $5.2 million gap in the city’s general fund.

Traffic moves around parts of the roundabout at the new I-5/SR529 interchange on Tuesday, July 22, 2025 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New interchange, ramps, set to open in Marysville

After more than a decade of planning and construction, the new ramps and roundabout connecting I-5 to Highway 529 are set to open in mid-August.

A barred owl at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. (Ray Bosch/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Plans to shoot thousands of barred owls in doubt after feds cancel grants

The U.S. Forest Service plan is part of a strategy to save endangered spotted owls in Washington, Oregon and California.

The U.S. Capitol pictured on March 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Shauneen Miranda/States Newsroom)
‘Literally no way’: Idea of redrawing WA’s congressional map gets bipartisan brush off

U.S. House Democrats want to counter a move by Texas lawmakers to elect more Republicans. Washington state lawmakers say redistricting won’t happen here before next year’s midterms.

A BNSF train crosses Grove St/72nd St, NE in Marysville, Washington on March 17, 2022. Marysville recently got funding for design work for an overcrossing at the intersection. (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
Snohomish County gets funding boost for $35M rail project

A $2 million federal grant will go toward improvements to a rail yard in north Everett. The upgrades will help waste management and passenger trains, officials said.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.