Bond Raised to $100,000 for Matthew Ammel After Not-Guilty Plea in Phoenix Court

Phoenix · News

A Phoenix judge on Monday granted the state's motion to raise Matthew Ammel's bond from $25,000 to $100,000 after he pleaded not guilty to a felony criminal-damage count.

By Dana Mercer, Previously

October 12, 2026 · Phoenix, Arizona

FOX 10 Phoenix reported that Ammel entered the not-guilty plea in a downtown Phoenix courtroom on Monday, October 12, and that the judge approved the state's motion to raise his bond the same day. According to the Arizona Republic, the case began with Ammel's September arrest after the alleged destruction at the Cave Creek home, and FOX 10 Phoenix reported that prosecutors used Monday's hearing to argue he had kept trying to reach the victim indirectly even while in custody. According to the Arizona Republic, Ammel is a former Green Beret who previously served on Sinema's security detail.

PHOENIX — Matthew Ammel, 39, appeared in a downtown Phoenix courtroom on Monday, October 12, pleaded not guilty to a felony criminal-damage count, and had his bond raised to $100,000 from $25,000 after a judge granted a motion by the state. FOX 10 Phoenix reported the plea, the bond increase and the state's motion from Monday's hearing. Ammel is presumed innocent of the charge, and nothing in this article should be read as a finding that he committed any offense.

Ammel is a former bodyguard and ex-boyfriend of former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, according to the Arizona Republic and AZCentral, which have covered the background of the case. He is also a former Green Beret, according to AZCentral. Those biographical details explain why a single-count criminal-damage case drew a courtroom crowd and statewide coverage on Monday, but they do not change the legal posture of the case: one indicted count, a not-guilty plea entered on Monday, and a bond decision that was the real action of the day.

What happened in court on Monday

According to FOX 10 Phoenix, Ammel pleaded not guilty on Monday to the felony criminal-damage count. Prosecutors asked the court to raise his bond, and the judge granted the state's motion, setting bond at $100,000, up from $25,000, FOX 10 Phoenix reported. A bond is not a fine and it is not a punishment. It is a financial condition tied to release, and a higher bond generally makes release harder to obtain and signals that the court accepted at least some of the state's stated concerns about compliance or safety for purposes of that hearing.

Prosecutors told the court on Monday, according to FOX 10 Phoenix, that Ammel had continued trying to reach the victim indirectly while in custody, including through a bail bondsman. That assertion by prosecutors is an allegation made in court, not a proven fact, and Previously attributes it to prosecutors as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix. The defense position on that assertion was not detailed in the coverage reviewed for this article, and Ammel, through his plea, has denied the underlying criminal charge.

The allegations behind the indictment

The charge traces back to late August. Investigators allege that Ammel caused about $200,000 in damage at Sinema's Cave Creek home, according to the Arizona Republic and AZCentral. Investigators allege, in the account reported by those outlets, that 22 paintings were thrown into a pool, bottles were broken and a mirror was shattered. Each of those details is an allegation by investigators, reported by the Arizona Republic and AZCentral, and each remains to be proved or disproved in court.

Ammel was first arrested after that alleged August incident, according to the Arizona Republic and AZCentral. The Maricopa County Attorney's Office then obtained an indictment on September 24 on one Class 4 felony criminal-damage count, described as a domestic-violence offense, according to the county attorney's office as reported by AZCentral and FOX 10 Phoenix. An indictment is a formal accusation voted by a grand jury. It starts a prosecution; it does not establish guilt.

A second arrest followed. Ammel was arrested again on September 30 after allegedly violating his release conditions by attempting indirect contact with Sinema, according to prosecutors as reported by the Arizona Republic and AZCentral. Prosecutors say he was found with a large knife at that time, according to the same reporting, and prosecutors allege he made threats against Sinema, against lawyers, and against a judge in another case. Previously attributes each of those claims to prosecutors, as reported by the Arizona Republic, AZCentral and FOX 10 Phoenix. They are allegations, they are contested by the fact of a not-guilty plea to the charged count, and they have not been established by a verdict.

Why the bond figure moved

Bond hearings turn on what prosecutors can persuade a judge is necessary, under the rules that govern release, to reasonably assure appearance and protect alleged victims and the community. On Monday, according to FOX 10 Phoenix, prosecutors pointed in part to alleged continued indirect contact attempts from custody, including the alleged use of a bail bondsman as an intermediary. The judge's decision to grant the state's motion and raise bond to $100,000, as reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, is the court action that resulted. Previously is not inferring any additional findings beyond that reported ruling.

The earlier alleged release-condition violation also formed part of the background prosecutors brought into court, according to the Arizona Republic and AZCentral. In that account, prosecutors allege the September 30 arrest followed an attempt at indirect contact, and prosecutors say a large knife was found. Again, the distinction matters for readers and for fairness: prosecutors say these things happened; investigators allege the underlying property damage; the court has so far ruled on bond and accepted a plea, not on whether the charged conduct occurred.

Class 4 felony criminal damage, as charged in the indictment reported by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, is the sole count described in the coverage reviewed here. Previously is not adding counts, enhancements or possible penalties that were not stated in the FOX 10 Phoenix report of Monday's hearing or in the Arizona Republic and AZCentral background reporting. Speculating about sentencing in a case that has just seen a not-guilty plea would be premature and unfair.

Presumption of innocence and what comes next

Ammel is presumed innocent unless and until the state proves the charged count beyond a reasonable doubt. That presumption is not a courtesy phrase. It is the legal starting point for every reader, every headline and every future hearing in this case. The not-guilty plea entered Monday, reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, is the formal expression of that posture.

What comes next is procedural rather than dramatic: further court settings under the new $100,000 bond, litigation over release conditions if either side seeks changes, and the slow work of preparing a felony case for negotiation or trial. Any future allegation by prosecutors, any filing by the defense, and any ruling by the court will be reported by Previously with the same attribution discipline used here — who says it, in what filing or hearing, and what has actually been decided.

For Phoenix readers, the case sits at the intersection of a familiar public figure's private safety concerns, as alleged by prosecutors, and a defendant's right to have the state prove its case. Sinema represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate, and prosecutors and investigators, through the Arizona Republic, AZCentral and FOX 10 Phoenix, have framed the alleged conduct as serious. None of that public profile lowers the state's burden or changes the presumption that attaches to Ammel.

Previously covers Phoenix courts as part of its Southwest reporting in Previously News, with sports and other Valley coverage in Previously Sports. This article will be updated only on verifiable court action — a new hearing date set in court, a filing entered on the record, or a ruling reported by a named source — not on rumor or social-media claims about either party.

On the record as of Monday night, the verifiable facts are limited and clear. FOX 10 Phoenix reported that Ammel pleaded not guilty, that prosecutors sought a higher bond, and that a judge raised bond to $100,000 from $25,000. The Arizona Republic and AZCentral reported the background allegations by investigators and prosecutors, the September 24 indictment described by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, and the September 30 second arrest as alleged by prosecutors. Everything beyond those attributed points — motive, credibility and ultimately guilt or innocence — is for the court process that Monday's hearing was only one step in.

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