Florida man Grant Tiernan Amato has the chance to go free, at least ahead of his trial for allegedly killing his parents and brother over a Bulgarian call girl. A Seminole County judge granted him bond on Thursday, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Amato’s public defender Jared A. Shapiro argued that the court did not follow proper procedure under case law when deciding the bail situation on March 27. The state had to make a motion explaining why the defendant must be held without bond, he wrote in a filing dated April 5. In other words, he can’t be held indefinitely, at least not without prosecutors establishing a reason why.
Records show the state conceded that Amato was entitled to a bond.
If he puts up the money, he must wear a GPS monitor, live in Seminole County, can’t access electronics with data usage or Internet access, and must surrender his passport. He can’t contact witnesses in the case, though he’s allowed to interact with a still-living brother for the purposes of “estate/probate” matters. The defendant can’t pay for bond using any moneys he might get from the deaths of his parents Chad and Margaret Amato, and late brother Cody Amato.
Bond was set at $750,000–$250,000 for each victim. Grant Amato remains at the Seminole County Jail as of Friday afternoon.
The defendent allegedly murdered his family last January. He was accused of stealing from them to fund his so-called relationship with a call girl from Bulgaria. The still-living brother said he wasn’t close to his relatives, but added that he spoke to his mother once a week, according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. He said Amato wired this woman a lot of money and even told her the family address.
The defendant butted heads with his relatives about this. His father even went as far as to lay down an ultimatum: take a 60-day internet and sex addiction rehab program, or leave the home. He only did that for a couple of weeks, deputies said. This tension allegedly led up to the murders.
[Mugshot via Seminole County Sheriff’s Office]