Langford is set to go to trial on April 28 to face charges levied in May 2006 that say he forced a woman to have sex with him at gunpoint.
“We will be prepared and look forward to presenting our case in April,” said Mike Waldman, assistant district attorney.
Langford’s $2.5 million bail is for a felony charge of cocaine possession, more than 4 grams.
Fifteen other inmates are in Bell County Jail facing the same charge. The largest bail among those 15 inmates is $75,000.
Langford was denied having his $2.5 million bail reduced at a bond reduction hearing on Feb. 22, and county officials say there was good reason for the state to deny his request.
He has already shown a propensity to continue to be charged with additional crimes while out on bail and large bail amounts seem to be no deterrent.
While Bell County officials have been professional in discussions about Langford, it would be accurate for them to refer to him as the million-dollar man.
Langford’s mother put up a $1 million cash bail to get him released from jail on March 21, 2007.
When a person is arrested and a bond is set, the individual may pay the bond in full with cash or may negotiate a guarantee with a bond company for a fraction of the total amount, typically around 30 percent.
In May 2006, Langford’s elderly mother walked into the Bell County Justice Center wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket and counted out $100,000 in cash to pay his bail on three charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a woman in Killeen.
District Clerk Shelia Norman said her staff was stunned that Ms. Langford showed up with so much cash. She said the situation was so unusual that a deputy traveled with Ms. Langford to the bank to deposit the money.
“We asked her not to bring in cash like that again,” Ms. Norman said.
Seven months later Langford was back in jail on misdemeanor assault charges.
In March 2007, Ms. Langford showed up again at the Justice Center. This time she had $1.1 million in cashier’s checks and Langford was out on the streets again.
The money stayed in a Bell County account for nearly nine months, until Langford was again arrested, this time on felony drug charges.
An arrest affidavit said Langford had more than 4 grams of crack cocaine in his car when he was pulled over for speeding in Killeen in late November 2007.
While the million-dollar bail was in a Bell County account it earned $18,141 in interest but a state law allowed the county to only collect $955 of that amount. The rest of the interest goes back to the person who posts the bail.
The law allows the state to collect the greater amount of 5 percent or $50 on accrued interest, Ms. Norman said.
County officials were unsure about how Ms. Langford came up with the means to pay such a large bail. Attempts to contact Ms. Langford were unsuccessful.
Langford is no stranger to county law enforcement with a string of guilty pleas back to 1987 that range from criminal trespass to gambling to driving while intoxicated to assault.
promer@temple-telegram.com
