Prosecutors fail to raise former Google engineer’s bond

SAN JOSE -- The attorney representing a former Google Inc. executive alleged to have stolen trade secrets for Uber Technologies Inc. accused federal prosecutors of "grandstanding and overreach" after they argued his bail should be increased to $10 million.

Federal prosecutors are trying to put on a show in their pursuit of a criminal conviction against Silicon Valley's most notable technologist on autonomous vehicles, argued Anthony Levandowski's lawyer, Ismail Ramsey.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins kept Levandowski's bond at $2 million and added his brother as a $200,000 unsecured creditor

"There are many other conditions calculated to ensure his appearance," Cousins said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Northern District of California charged Levandowski on 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets. He faces up to 10 years and a fine of $250,000 per count if convicted.

Levandowski pleaded not guilty to all charges before Cousins on Aug. 27. He was released after posting a $2 million bond, with his friends and family agreeing to put up property valued at roughly $1.7 million as collateral.

Prosecutors wanted more time to look into the self-driving car guru's finances before determining a final bail package.

Ramsey argued Levandowski, who is subject to electronic monitoring, has been cooperating with the criminal investigation for two years.

"We think it's important to look to actions of both the defendant and the actions of the government in determining what the least restrictive conditions are to ensure his appearance," Ramsey said.

Levandowski noticed federal agents watching him prior to his arrest, later introduced himself and asked how he could help, according to Ramsey, who claimed one of the agents falsely identified himself as an insurance investigator.

"The government did absolutely nothing to arrest him when there was an active warrant," he said. "There was no concern about him being a flight risk then."

Ramsey also noted Levandowski wanted to surrender, but the U.S. attorney did not respond to inquiries about how to better cooperate.

Federal prosecutors are not concerned about the defendant showing up for the initial proceedings but "appearing at each and every stage," according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Amie Rooney.

"We want to make sure he has enough at stake so as it progresses he doesn't flee at some point," she said.

Rooney also claimed the $10 million is just 15% of Levandowski's $72 million net worth.

The U.S. attorney is attempting to "squeeze all the liquidity" out of Levandowski, which violates his constitutional right to choice of counsel, Ramsey responded. He added Levandowski has just $1.3 million in liquid assets. United States of America v. Levandowski, CR1900377 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 15, 2019).

The indictment follows accusations made in a trial that concluded in February 2018 by Waymo LLC in a contentious dispute to lead the autonomous vehicle industry. Google's self-driving car spin-off alleged its former employee stole more than 14,000 files containing critical information on the company's technology, which he then used to form a startup he later sold to Uber.

The civil lawsuit settled for $245 million 1after just four days of trial. Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, Inc. 17-CV00939 (N.D. Cal., filed Feb. 23, 2017).

After seeing enough evidence to conclude trade theft might have occurred, U.S. District Judge William Alsup recommended federal prosecutors open a criminal investigation in spite of the settlement.

Levandowski's first appearance before Alsup, who was reassigned the criminal case, will be on Sept. 24.