There is a pivotal scene in the movie “The Godfather” in which Michael Corleone, the young son portrayed by Al Pacino, finally abandons his aspirations for the 9-to-5 life and casts his lot with his Mafioso father.

After personally plotting the death of the rival gangster who has just broken his jaw and attempted to assassinate his father, Michael Corleone leans forward and in his most sinister voice insists, “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”

When Edward L. Giles, the supervising agent for Bail Bonds Express, posts bond for a citizen accused of robbery, assault or some more heinous crime, it’s strictly business.

“We provide a service,” Giles said. “We don’t get into judgment. Not all people are criminals.”

The idea behind allowing someone accused of a crime to post bond and get out of jail is to enable the accused to prepare his defense. In theory, at least, the money posted for bond offers some assurance that the accused will appear for trial and won’t simply walk away.

The trick, if there is one, is to set the bond high enough that the accused is unlikely to flee but not so high that it violates his Eighth Amendment guarantee against excessive bail.

Bail bondsmen like Giles are in the business of posting bond for those defendants who are unable to afford posting their own bond.

The amount he charges for that service varies depending on the defendant’s general trustworthiness, but averages about 10 percent of the total bond set by the court. Thus, if a defendant has been arrested for DUI and bond is set at, say, $2,500, Giles would guarantee that bond for a fee averaging 10 percent, or $250.

If all goes well, the defendant gets out of jail, and Giles and his firm make $250 on the deal. Human nature being what it is, however, defendants do occasionally fail to show for their day in court.

When that happens, Bail Bonds Express becomes liable for the entire $2,500. The money is paid to a general fund administered by the courts. Giles’ only recourse for recovering the money is to seize any of the defendant’s personal assets that were posted as collateral for the bond or to pursue the defendant and bring him back to justice – then hope he can convince the court to return at least part of the $2,500.

“When we post bond for someone,” Giles explained, “we’re guaranteeing that he’s going to appear in court when he’s supposed to. Obviously, that doesn’t always happen. One of the things I always ask myself before posting bond for anyone is, ‘Can I afford $1,000 if this old boy goes south?'”

Just as a judge does when setting the amount of bail, Giles said he looks at a number of factors in deciding whether to post bond for someone and how much to charge them for doing so.

“Your previous record, your character, where you live, do you work, do you go to church, do you have family here – those are all things we look at when we decide to post bond,” he said. “We are not required to post bond for anyone. It’s up to our discretion.”

For bonds amounting to a few hundred dollars or less, Giles said he might require nothing more than the signature of the accused or of some family member who promises to stand good for the money. In the case of a larger bond, he is likely to require collateral in the form of a note on a car or property or some other tangible asset.

“The rule of thumb is that 98 percent of defendants who post bond do go to court and only about 2 percent don’t,” Giles said. “But that 2 percent can kill you, especially if it’s a larger bond. The hard part is trying to guess who that 2 percent will be. A lot of times the ones you think will run don’t, and the ones you think won’t run do. But that’s just the nature of the business.”

And, for Giles, it is strictly business.