Dec 18, 2009 6:32 pm US/Mountain
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) ―
- The chess teacher who pleaded guilty to molesting students and then fled the country is getting a rough homecoming from the judge and prosecutors.
Robert Snyder was supposed to be on probation after leaving prison but fled to Belize.
On Friday the judge set a hefty bond. For his hearing before a district court judge, Snyder wore the red outfit of a high security inmate. Deputies said that's because they're extra concerned that the chess master and convicted child molester might try to escape.
"In light on the fact that we had to bring him back from out of the country, a sizeable bond was necassary to assure his appearance and also for the safety of the public," Assistant District Attorney Cliff Riedel said.
The assistant district attorney asked the judge to set snyder's bond at $2 million. The judge decided $1.5 million in cash would spring Snyder from jail or else he'll have to wait for his next court date.
"What's your concern about a bond that size?" CBS4's Mike Hooker asked defense attorney Joe Fonfara.
"Essentially my concern is that it's excessive to the point of being oppressive," Fonfara said.
Snyder's defense attorney asked the judge to let the chess teacher's parents co-sign to make sure he'd show up for court, but the judge said no. The defense attorney says in the past he's worked on civil cases for snyder.
"He seems to be really a pretty decent person. I find him very personable," Fonfara said.
But being personable clearly isn't enough to get the judge and prosecutors to risk giving Snyder any sort of freedom.
"If he were to post bond and be free to move about, what's the likelihood of him fleeing again?" Hooker asked Riedel.
"Well, who can predict? There's certainly a great risk of that. One, he has a history of it. Two, if we prevail on the motion to revoke probation he is facing an indeterminant to life sentence in the Colorado Department of Corrections which certainly would be an incentive for him to perhaps want to flee," Riedel said.
On Friday the judge told the chess teacher that if he were to somehow raise the $1.5 million to bond out he would not be allowed to leave his home and would have to wear a GPS monitor so the court could still keep an eye on him.
Police say after leaving the country, Snyder changed his name to Augustine Rios. He married a police officer in Belize and taught chess at an elementary school.