In a very interesting story, a bounty hunter with a reality show about tracking delinquent parents recently tricked one deadbeat dad into custody in a most unusual way.
The bounty hunter pretended he was a movie producer, and informed the dad that he was offering him a role in an upcoming Jennifer Aston film. The dad took the bait and flew from Hawaii to Pennsylvania, where he thought filming would begin. Instead, he was arrested in Philadelphia on warrants stemming from his failure to pay child support.
According to reports, the man had been dodging child support payments for 19 years. In fact, his arrest may have been the first one in the state made for violating a relatively new state law making it a crime to move out of the state to avoid paying child support.
Here, the man had moved frequently to different states and counties before finally settling in Hawaii, because he thought that was too far for Pennsylvania officials to come after him.
Instead, he ended up delivering himself right into their hands. When his plane landed, he was put into handcuffs. In an art imitates life imitates art moment, camera crews filmed the arrest, and the man who thought he was appearing a movie will instead appear — as himself — on a TV reality show.
After sitting in jail for 42 days, the man pleaded guilty to a charge of willful failure to pay child support The judge ordered him to pay the outstanding child support he owed — almost $33,000 — and to serve 90 days of probation. The judge also ordered him to reimburse the “producer” — the bounty hunter — $2,912 for the cost of the airplane ticket.
Stay tuned for more from our Ft. Worth family law blog …
To learn more about child support arrears or post-divorce issues, contact an experienced and skilled legal professional.
This post is for informational purposes only and is not to be construed as legal advice.
Source:
The Morning Call, “Deadbeat dad nabbed in Jennifer Aniston movie ruse pleads guilty,” Kevin Amerman, July 13, 2012
