General legal information furnished as a service of Fort Lauderdale / West Palm Beach family law attorney Janet Langjahr
An ex-husband and father was convicted by a jury of 18 felony counts of failure to support a child, after 90 minutes.
During the couple’s divorce, the man allegedly pretended to reconcile with his wife to “buy time” to buy a $63,000 sailboat (a year’s salary), saddling her with $44,000 of debt for which she was reportedly responsible under Wisconsin state law.
Then he disappeared on the boat, eventually settling in Florida. He allegedly changed his name and fraudulently worked under his new wife’s social security number.
She had to sell the family home to pay off his debts. And he never paid any child support or saw his kids again.
At his trial, he allegedly testified that he didn’t know that he had to pay support and that there was “nothing for him” in Wisconsin. And that he is destitute.
His ex-wife may never see the $250,000 plus he owes in back child support. But she may at least get to see him sentenced to up to 66 years’ incarceration.
That may have to be enough.
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