Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have pleaded not guilty to felony charges stemming from a disputed hotel bill.

The couple had been arrested because they failed to pay a hotel bill of $ 10 000.

When the judge found that Quaid and his wife did not show up to court on December 15th, he set the amount of the couple’s new bail to $ 40 000 per person. He also requested the issuance of arrest warrants against the two spouses.

This new bond is added to $ 40 000 paid by the couple last month. Quaid and Evi have lost but this sum does not show up in court Tuesday.

Attorney Lee Carter told People that Quaid and his wife had not indicated any reasons for their absence. They are now considered fugitives.

After they missed four appointments to the courts, an arrest warrant had been issued against Quaid and his wife. The prosecutor’s office had also begun extradition proceedings to force the couple, who lives in Texas, to finally face the music in California. By paying their bail in November, when the Quaid had avoided these last two scenarios, reports People.

Following the recent absence, the authorities are preparing new arrest warrants and extradition proceedings in motion will recover, says People.

The couple was arrested in Marfa, Texas, September 24 for allegedly fled without paying after a stay at the chic Hotel San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California, last summer.

“A lot of things can happen between now and then,” said Santa Barbara Detective Rod Forney, who worked on the case. “It could be dropped to a misdemeanor or there could be some kind of plea.”

The couple maintain that the whole incident is just a misunderstanding and that the media has reported plenty of misinformation.

“They were never on the run from the law,” Ponton said. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there about this. It’s much ado about nothing.”