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Guilty Plea: Failure To Pay Over $550,000 In Child Support

On Behalf of | May 25, 2018 | family law |

A 64-year-old man, who escaped paying child support for decades, recently pleaded guilty to a failure to pay child support charge in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The father of four, who authorities located and arrested in Canada, could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison and two years of supervised release as a result of his conviction.

According to authorities, the man owed $559,000 in overdue child support. However, he had been living in Canada under a false name, which allowed him to escape arrest for 20 years.

The unpaid child support dates back to 1989, when the man and his ex-wife divorced. A judge issued a child support order for the man to pay $100 monthly for his four children, but later a judge reduced the payments to just $14 monthly after the man claimed to have a disability. In 1996, the man sold an internet company for $2 million, which caused a judge to order him to pay a higher amount in child support.

As a result of not paying his child support bills for two decades, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General dubbed the father to be its “Most Wanted Deadbeat.”

This case is a good example of how failure to pay child support can result in stiff legal consequences. It’s also a good example of how government authorities assist individuals who are owed child support in tracking down missing parents to enforce a child support decree. If you’re owed child support, or if you’re worried that you might not be able to pay your child support, make sure you address the issue in a legally appropriate manner.

Source: MLive.com, “‘Most Wanted Deadbeat’ pleads guilty to $559,000 child support bill,” Emily Monacelli, May 07, 2018