Roni Faciane is a certified life coach, and former Lipstick Bounty Hunter, who advocates for improved protections for abused children, better funded police and prison reforms, decriminalization of sex work and understanding the dangers of media disinformation. After facing a lawsuit for $52 million for the arrest of a bail client turned murderer, the deaths of two women sex workers she helped to arrest, and prosecuting her daughter's abusers, Roni devoted herself to advocating for victims who are often ignored, silenced and judged by powerful entities who thrive on the pain of others for profit.
Her experience as a former bounty hunter and prison guard give her a unique perspective on victims and criminals. She helped arrest wayward bail clients, mostly fugitives, in Southern California, but is best known for the attempted capture of a bail client in 2013. A video of Roni and the owners of Lipstick Bail Bonds pursuing him went viral, generating national and international attention. The bail client sued both Roni and Lipstick for $52 million. He claimed Roni blinded him with a rubber bullet during the attempt and that the women used excessive force violating his civil rights.
Following the flood of media interest in that case, Roni visited the California State Senate in Sacramento to discuss amending some of the language in the bail laws. She also met with both the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Board Members at the Academy for the Department of Corrections to advocate for changes to training programs for bounty hunters.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit after a judge sentenced the former client, now killer, to 80 years in prison in 2017 for murdering his uncle with a fatal gunshot in 2015.
After the deaths of two women she helped locate as a bounty hunter, she began to advocate decriminalizing sex work and better monitoring and research of sex offenders. Kiana Jackson in 2013 missed a court date, forcing the bail agent to hire bounty hunters to find her. Authorities later discovered she and four others were victims of California serial killers Steven Gordon and Franc Cano. Both were homeless sex offenders required to wear GPS ankle monitors.
Roni is available for podcasts and interviews. She lives in Nevada and is the mother of two children, a son, and a daughter.
Her book, Rubber Bullets, released in 2020 and the Spanish Edition in 2021.