On July 5, 1984, Bingham's attorney, Paul A. Harris, announced that Bingham would surrender "within a week". He surrendered on July 9 with the help of former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark. According to Harris, government authorities set up Bingham as a scapegoat to deter other attorneys assisting the "black radical movement". Bingham's father suggested that a woman who went with Bingham to San Quentin that day, but was never arrested or indicted, may have been involved in a plot to smuggle a weapon into the prison.