'Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent' Pleads Guilty

A New York man once dubbed by prosecutors as the government's most wanted deadbeat parent pleaded guilty yesterday to owing more than $1.2 million to three children from two failed marriages. Robert Sand, 50, pleaded guilty in US District Court in Central Islip on Long Island to two counts of failing to pay child support. Assistant US Attorney Alan Bode said in court that the child support orders, which were issued on Long Island, have been in arrears since at least 2002.

The figure cited by Bode includes interest and penalties. The prosecutor declined to comment to reporters after the court proceeding. Sand told the judge he fled first to Florida and then to Thailand. Sand's attorney, Glenn Obedin, said his client had grown tired of living on the run and contacted authorities late last year. Sand faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced in May. (More Robert Sand stories.)