'Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent' Arrested

This month, police finally caught up with a fugitive who'd been on the run for almost 20 years. His crime? Not paying child support. Robert Sand, the man the Justice Department labeled its "Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent," owes $1 million to his ex-wife Rita, the New York Times reports. Now, Rita and prosecutors face a dilemma that comes up in many deadbeat cases: Should they try to get him sent to prison, or leave him free to work to pay off that debt?

Sand isn't the only million-dollar deadbeat; indeed, he's the second currently facing federal prosecution in New York. That state that alone boasts 23 deadbeat parents owing seven-figures. But Sand's case is remarkable nonetheless. After divorcing Rita, he remarried, had another child, then left her, leaving him with a yet-bigger child support bill. When a Florida family court issued a warrant for his arrest, he fled the country. Nor was that the end of his legal troubles; in 2005 he was arrested in Thailand for carrying a fake passport. (More child support stories.)