The most wanted child support evader in Texas history has been sentenced to serve 12 months in state jail. The man kept Texas law enforcement officials on the run for 13 years before an agent for the FBI recognized the man in the country of Jordan. Before his run from the law in 1997, the 56-year-old father racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in back child support. The former father on the run pleaded guilty to criminal non-support in court last week.
In order to escape the $420,000 in unpaid child support, the man decided to go on the run in 1997. Investigators were unable to locate the father on the run until an FBI agent recognized the man in Jordan in early 2011. When the father tried to enter the country of Oman without a valid passport, officials there deported him back to the United States. When the 56-year-old father arrived in the United States officials immediately arrested him.
At the time of his arrest, the father owed $420,000 in child support for his two children. The amount owed tops the list of Texas’ Most Wanted Child Support Evaders list. The next highest evader owes $160,000.
The man was a chiropractor and had his own clinic until his divorce in 1991. The family court judge ordered the man to pay $3,500 per month in child support, but the man never made a payment. In addition to his time behind bars, the man has also been ordered to pay $423,000 in restitution, $3,530 in transportation costs and $273 in court costs.
Source: Amarillo.com, “Judge sentences man for not paying child support,” Joe Gamm, 3/10/11