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$.5 mil bail keeps Surgeon in jail Tahoe area joins list of places with charges against spa salesman By Chris Bristol Well-traveled spa salesman Todd Surgeon has been arrested again, and this time he�s staying put. Surgeon, who faces felony theft and racketeering charges in Medford, was arrested Dec. 15 in the Lake Tahoe area on charges of embezzlement. Authorities in Placer County (Calif.) said he failed to deliver at least four hot tubs he sold. The fact that Surgeon, 30, has been arrested again is not exactly news. In addition to the Medford case, which is set for trial next month, he also faces similar charges in Las Vegas, Reno/Tahoe and Riverside, Calif. What is news is that, two weeks later, he�s still in jail. A judge in Placer County set bail at $500,000 � a huge amount for property crimes � and then refused to lower it last week. "Normally bail for embezzlement is $2,500," Placer County sheriff�s Detective Sgt. Jeff Granum explained Wednesday. "But with all the outstanding cases elsewhere, it finally caught up to him." Surgeon first made headlines in the spring of 1999, when he announced plans to raise $20 million for charities in the Rogue Valley by opening a string of 777 leisure-products showrooms around the country. Those plans never materialized. Since then, starting in his hometown, he has been arrested in Medford, Las Vegas, Riverside, Incline Village (on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe) and now Tahoe City. The charges are usually the same: that Surgeon sold spas and hot tubs he couldn�t, or wouldn�t, deliver. Worse, in Medford and Las Vegas he is accused of conning more than $650,000 from would-be investors in his leisure-products franchise schemes. Granum said the judge in Placer County set bail at $500,000 because of the growing number of outstanding cases against Surgeon and because he has no permanent address. In addition, Surgeon�s spa partner and co-defendant in Placer County, whom Granum identified as one Brandon Stahl, is being investigated for allegedly trying to bribe witnesses in the case. "He told them outside the courtroom that if Surgeon was to get out (of jail) they would get a hot tub, and if he didn�t they wouldn�t," Granum said. Before, Granum said, Surgeon typically got out of jail quickly because he had a good record of appearing for court dates. As a result, judges set low bails. "He�s probably been paying off the bails by selling more hot tubs someplace else," Granum said. "Because the justice system is slow, he�s able to keep going out there and reoffending." In August, Surgeon was convicted by a Jackson County judge of harassment and fined $400 for egging a disgruntled customer who picketed Surgeon�s showroom in Medford. In 1994, he was convicted of disorderly conduct after he was caught on camera repeatedly propositioning a convenience store clerk. Surgeon insisted he was only kidding when he told the woman he was a pimp. Reach reporter Chris Bristol at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.