The story does not add up. For petty crime as such, where the bail is set to only $1000, he can easily call the bail bond companies to release him. The bail bond companies usually only charge 10% - 20% of the full amount ($1000 in this case), as such, your friend could pay that 10%-20% in the matter of weeks or even months. So you can get your friend out by paying as less as $100, I wonder how dumb you and your stories, just call the bail bond companies if the bond fee is an issue. If he does not have SSN then he might be in difficult situation as they will have to verify with the immigration before they can release him. All in all, it is nothing of an urgent situation, and you better put your facts and stories straight.