The ex-bail bondsman son of late “Golden Boy” boxer Art Aragon, who drew standing-room-only crowds at Los Angeles and Hollywood venues in the 1950s, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for drug possession.
Brad Aragon, 59, of Canoga Park, pleaded guilty last year to a federal count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Prosecutors said he has sustained more than 20 criminal convictions over the past 30 years.
Aragon ran a Van Nuys bail agency that was started by his father, a lightweight contender known as “Golden Boy” for his flamboyant presence in the ring. After retiring from the sport, the elder Aragon acted in Hollywood films and went into the bail-bond business. He died at age 80 in 2008.
Prosecutors had recommended that Aragon receive a prison sentence of 15 years and eight months.
The defendant’s “sustained pattern of committing crimes — including crimes of violence and drug trafficking crimes, often while on probation for prior similar convictions — demonstrates a profound disrespect for the law and makes clear that a significant sentence is necessary to, among other things, protect the public from future crimes by this defendant who has been entirely undeterred by his prior sentences,” according to the government’s sentencing memorandum, filed in L.A. federal court.
In a six-page letter to the court, Aragon said he got into drugs after his father died and business began to falter. He eventually lost his bail license due to a previous felony conviction, and began selling drugs to support his addiction, according to the letter.
“I am not asking for leniency or mercy,” Aragon wrote. “It is not my intention to garner sympathy or excuse my actions, I know there is a price to pay for what I’ve done.”