Judge Doubles Paduano’s Bail

Bail for Robert G. Paduano, reputed Newport Beach underworld figure accused of robbing several Orange County drug dealers to expand his own criminal operations, was doubled Friday to $500,000.

Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald said that another indictment filed against Paduano in Riverside County last month was sufficient reason to increase the bail.

Paduano, 44, is accused of plotting a series of armed robberies at the homes of suspected drug dealers in Newport Beach.

Fitzgerald also set Sept. 12 for Paduano’s trial on 71 counts of extortion, false imprisonment, assault, burglary and drug trafficking. The prosecution and defense were given until Aug. 19 to file pretrial motions.

Paduano was indicted in February by the Orange County Grand Jury. When he was arrested, bond was set at $500,000, but in March, it was reduced to $250,000, over prosecution objections, by Municipal Court Judge Alan N. McKone. The defendant remains in custody at Orange County Jail.

However, on June 14, Paduano was charged with seven new felony counts in Riverside County, including conspiracy to kidnap a Palm Springs man for ransom in 1986. That charge carries a possible life sentence.

Christopher Evans, the deputy district attorney prosecuting the case in Orange County, said the Riverside County charges against Paduano had altered the criminal circumstances for the defendant.

“With the Riverside County case, Mr. Paduano is facing more time (in prison) than he ever has,” Evans said.

He added that Paduano’s criminal record also demonstrated that he was a “threat to people all over Southern California.”

Paduano’s court-appointed attorney, John Barnett, argued that the Riverside County case was filed to give the prosecution “leverage” in its attempt to raise his client’s bail.

But Evans responded that Paduano, now that he faces life in prison if convicted in the Palm Springs case, would be more of a threat to flee if released on bail.