A Little Faith Goes a Long Way in Bail and in Life

San Angelo, Texas has a deep history that dates so far back that it predates all of our known Texas history.  As of 1600, the area had already been inhabited for over a thousand years by indigenous peoples.  In 1632, Spain created a short-lived mission to serve the Indians.  Other expeditions entered into the area to attempt to colonize the region in the next few decades.

The city of San Angelo was found in 1867 when the United States built Fort Concho designed to protect the frontier. The town was settled by Bartholomew J. DeWitt.  He named the town after his wife, Carolina Angela.  The name was changed to San Angela and then to San Angelo at the insistence of the United States Postal Service.  The town grew when it was designated the county set in the 1880s and later growth was aided by railroad construction.  The town also grew after a tuberculosis outbreak hit the United States in the early 1900s and many patients moved there to take advantage of the climate.

The bail industry across the state of Texas is made up of small business owners.  From teachers to former professional athletes to  entrepreneurs looking for their next challenge, many bondsmen have their own unique stories on how they ended up in the bail bond business.  In San Angelo, one such bond family is Ricky Villarreal, his wife Byanca and their son Isaiah.  

Ricky is a simple, humble man.  He lives his life with passion for three things, his faith, his family, and his community.  These three things guide and drive his everyday activities, from his professional life to his personal life.  His foray into the professional world was through his own insurance company meeting the home and auto insurance needs of his community.  Ricky’s faith led him to focus his business in a low-income Hispanic community where he thought he would be able to help more people who were underserved by traditional insurance brokers.  

One day a customer asked him about someone needing a bail bond.  It was something he had never thought of or really understood.  But instead of just ignoring the issue, Ricky turned to his faith.  As Ricky describes it, he prayed about what God would have him do and he was sent a vision that he had the opportunity to continue to help people who were in a difficult situation and he had an opportunity to help people get back on their feet and put their lives back together. Ricky wanted to be a part of changing people’s lives for the better and bail was his opportunity to do that.  From this point forward, Ricky new that helping people in the criminal justice system through bail was a part of his calling.  The next day he started down the path of opening up a bail agency which would be known as Freedom/Libertad Bail Bonds.

Ricky’s faith has played a major role in his life.  Not only did it lead him to bail bonds, but it also led him to his next passion, family.  In 2016, Ricky felt like he was missing something.  He once again turned to his faith and had a vision of marriage and children.  Within a year he had met his wife Byanca and had a new baby.  It is truly an inspiring story.  

Ricky’s final passion is his community.  He truly understands how fortunate he is to have the multiple blessings in his life in the way that he does.  That being the case, Ricky loves nothing more than sharing his good fortune and giving back to the community.  Eight years ago, Ricky started a charity that worked with Texas’ Head Start program.  First, the charity operated out of his office, but has since grown and moved to a local school where Ricky holds multiple holiday events throughout the year for well over 300 underprivileged children and their families.  He entertains the children with multiple characters including Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and multiple super-heroes and movie characters and provides them with gifts, raffles, and other fun activities.   Even when Covid hit and he could not hold the event in person, Ricky did not stop.  He continued to keep his commitment to the community and found a way to drop off the gifts for the children.

Ricky and his wife Byanca are great examples of bondsmen across the state of Texas and across the country who are small business owners focusing on their community. Ricky has worked tirelessly focusing on helping his community through his faith and building a family to continue these traditions for the future.

Ricky and Byanca are licensed bondsmen in Tom Green County, Texas.  Ricky's bonding company is Freedom/Libertad Bail Bonds.  Byanca's bonding company is Santa Angela Bail Bonds.