WHERE WAS SHE AT? MOTHER WHO LEFT HER KIDS FOR 3-5 YEARS GETS 250 MILLION DOLLAR BOND

A Michigan mother who allegedly abandoned her three children and forced them to live in squalor alone for four years is being detained on a $250 million cash bond — a massive amount more commonly seen in cases involving high profile or wealthy defendants.

The mother, 34-year-old Kelli Bryant, was charged with three counts of first-degree child abuse this week after Oakland County sheriff's deputies discovered her children — ages 12, 13 and 15 — alone in what officials have described as "horrifying" living conditions. At an arraignment Thursday, 50th District Court Judge Ronda Fowlkes Gross said she set the multimillion-dollar, cash-only bond because she was concerned Bryant may try to stop her children from cooperating with authorities from jail.

"Should the court find out that you are sending messages to engage in further fear tactics and intimidation of the children, your phone privileges will be removed,” Gross said.

Gross added that she also considers the mother to be a danger to any minor children, including her own three children involved in this case. “I do find her an acute risk and danger to the community,” Gross said in ordering the high bond.

The $250 million bond raised eyebrows among many in the legal profession.

High bond has been set for parents accused of abandoning their children before. A Texas woman, Gloria Williams, was held on $1.5 million bail after being arrested for making three of her children live alone for more than a year in a bug-infested apartment with the decomposing body of their 8-year-old sibling, according to The Houston Chronicle. Williams was sentenced to 50 years in prison in November.

Bonds in the hundreds of millions of dollars are sometimes seen with high profile or wealthy defendants. Former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, for example, was initially released on a $250 million personal recognizance bond, which federal prosecutors described at the time as perhaps the largest ever, before he was found guilty of stealing billions from customers of the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and sentenced to 25 years in prison in March.

$250 million bond raises eyebrows in legal community
Prominent defense attorney Arthur Weiss, who has practiced law for more than four decades and is president of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, said the purposes of bond are twofold: to assure the defendant will appear for future appearances, and, to prevent additional crimes from occurring. There are few guidelines for setting bond amounts and the task is generally left to the discretion of the judge or magistrate, Weiss said.