Former House Speaker J. Fonati Koffa, along with three other lawmakers, justified their bond before Magistrate Ben Barco of the Monrovia City Court at the Temple of Justice on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Magistrate Barco heard evidence in the much-anticipated bond proceedings involving Representatives Koffa, Dixon W. Seboe, Abu B. Kamara, and Jacob C. Debee, following a mandate from the Judge of Criminal Court “A”, Roosevelt Z. Willie, to determine the sufficiency of the bail. The hearing follows the Monrovia City Court’s order issued on Monday, June 23, for the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Co-defendants to justify the validity of their bail bond or face immediate re-arrest. “The defendants are hereby ordered to produce their sureties to justify their bond… Otherwise, the bond will be set aside and the defendants will be rearrested consistent with our statute,” Magistrate Barco’s mandate on Monday declared in open court.
Rep. Koffa presented his daughters, Ms. Jonda Janet Koffa, General Manager at United Command Inc., and Marjan Mona Koffa, as sureties in a US$1.8 million property bond. Koffa and his co-defendants were released from the Monrovia Central Prison on June 9, 2025, after filing a combined bail package comprising a US$440,000 criminal appearance bond, backed by sureties Jonda Janet Koffa and Marjan Mona Koffa.
Magistrate Barco at the time accepted the bond and released the lawmakers without a formal hearing on its adequacy, prompting the prosecution to challenge its legitimacy. The prosecutors filed exceptions to the bond, claiming it was insufficient and questioning the legitimacy of the sureties. However, instead of hearing arguments, the City Court then transferred the matter to Criminal Court “A,” which has now remanded the case back to Magistrate Barco for determination.
Meanwhile, during the surety hearing, Magistrate Barco granted the defense’s motion to proceed with the qualification of sureties listed in the original bond. The court immediately qualified the first witness, Ms. Jonda Janet Koffa, who appeared on the stand and testified under oath. She identified herself as the General Manager at United Command Inc., residing in Sinkor’s 7th Street Community. Ms. Koffa confirmed that she served as one of the sureties and disclosed that she is the elder sister of co-surety Marjan Mona Koffa.
During her testimony, Ms. Koffa also confirmed that she is personally acquainted with all four defendants, establishing a direct connection with the parties she is guaranteeing. After her testimony, the defense moved that both oral and documentary evidence presented during the justification be admitted into the court record. Thus, the court granted the request and officially marked the evidence as part of the proceedings.
Following the presentation of evidence, Magistrate Barco permitted both the prosecution and defense to deliver their legal arguments, allotting 13 minutes to each side. Koffa referenced several sections of the Civil Procedure Law of Liberia, including Chapters 25 and 63, and cited relevant legal precedents to support the legitimacy of the bond.
State prosecutors, however, sharply contested the sufficiency of the bail. They invoked Civil Procedure Law Sections 63.1, 63.2, and 63.6 and cited the Supreme Court ruling in Griffith v. Wadan, 35 LLR. The state argued that the sureties presented were inadequate, claiming the criminal appearance bond was “bogus and worthless.”
“The hearing today clearly shows that the defendants failed flatly and miserably to justify the ill-fated and frivolous criminal appearance bond,” prosecutors said, urging the court to set it aside and order the immediate re-arrest of the accused lawmakers.
In their final statement, defense counsel reminded the court of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Jimmy Sumo, 37 LLR, stressing the constitutional rights of the accused and calling on the court to uphold the bond already accepted and release them from further scrutiny.
Magistrate Barco, after listening to both sides, reserved ruling and announced that a final decision on the bond’s validity would be delivered by midday on Thursday, June 26, 2025. The Capitol Building arson case continues to generate widespread attention, not only due to the high-profile defendants involved but also the legal back-and-forth over bond sufficiency.
The outcome of Thursday’s ruling could determine whether the lawmakers remain temporarily free or are taken back into custody pending trial. On Monday, June 23, 2025, Magistrate Barco ordered former Speaker Koffa and three other lawmakers to either upgrade their bonds or face re-arrest within 24 hours.
The lawmakers were directed by the court to present their sureties to justify their bond or to set the bond aside, adding that if they failed to comply, they would be re-arrested by the law. Alongside Koffa, Representatives Dixon Seboe, Abu Kamara, Prescilla Cooper, and Jacob Debee II are facing a range of charges, including Arson, Criminal Mischief, Reckless Endangerment, Attempted Murder, Criminal Facilitation, and Criminal Conspiracy, among other charges.
