Bounty hunter gets time served after guilty plea

Outlaw bounty hunter Dennis Kariores has been sentenced to time already served after pleading guilty to nine felonies in a case that originally had him charged with kidnapping.

Kariores, 42, had been a fugitive after he failed to show up to a court hearing April 10. But he was picked up by the U.S. Marshals Service in Florida late last month and transported back to Spokane, Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Tony Hazel said.

Kariores was charged last year with first-degree burglary, second-degree kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment stemming from two cases where investigators allege he unlawfully detained people while working as an unlicensed bond agent.

But Hazel agreed to reduce the charges to nine counts of riot. Superior Court Judge Sam Cozza this week then sentenced Edwards to 4 1/2 months in jail and credited him with time already served waiting for trial. Kariores was released.

“Given the totality of the circumstance, he’s being apprised for what he did,” Hazel said of Kariores. “If he continues to commit crimes, he’s going to be facing a lengthy sentence.”

He noted that Kariores was ordered to pay $7,200 in restitution to cover the costs of his incarceration and transport from Florida to Spokane.

Kariores’ long relationship with local law enforcement also sparked a criminal investigation into now-fired Spokane police Officer Alan Edwards.

In February 2010, Kariores and two other licensed bond agents went to a home in the 1100 block of North Nelson Street while searching for a suspect. The man’s wife allowed the three men into her home, but when they didn’t find the suspect, Kariores demanded to see her phone and refused to allow her to leave, according to court records. Kariores and one of the bond agents handcuffed the woman, which prompted the charges of first-degree burglary and unlawful imprisonment.