Bail denied for
former kickboxer Alexio

A federal magistrate has ordered former heavyweight kickboxing champion Dennis Alexio held without bail until he can be returned to California to face charges of failing to pay child support.

Magistrate Barry Kurren ruled yesterday that Alexio was a serious flight risk based on his failure to abide by court orders.

A California grand jury charged Alexio in a superseding indictment on July 1, 2003, with two counts of bank fraud in addition to failing to pay child support. He was accused of writing two checks on Nov. 4, 2002, in the amounts of $26,917 and $1,823 to the Marin County Child Support Division on a Bank of America account.

The bank had closed the account as of April 1995 with an overdrawn balance of $2,788. The checks were ostensibly provided by Alexio to pay all or part of his child support obligation, the indictment said. The bank did not honor the checks, and the Child Support Division did not receive any money to satisfy Alexio's child support obligations, the indictment noted.

During the short proceeding in U.S. District Court, Kurren appointed federal defender Donna Gray to represent Alexio, despite his objection. "I'm being deprived of my rights here," Alexio said. "She does not speak for me."

Alexio also disputed that he was the individual named in the warrant of arrest. "I'm not the entity that's the defendant," he said.