Robert D. Sand, Child Support Evasion, New York 2012

In a shocking display of parental neglect, Robert D. Sand, the nation’s “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent,” pleaded guilty to two counts of traveling in interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to evade child support obligations totaling over $1.2 million.

Sand, 50, admitted to abandoning his responsibilities to the children he helped bring into this world, and to leaving the country to do so. The proceedings were held before the Honorable Joseph F. Bianco at the United States Courthouse located in Central Islip, New York.

The guilty plea was announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Thomas O’Donnell, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office, Office of the Inspector General, United States Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG-DHHS”) and Charles Dunne, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of New York.

Sand initially relocated from New York to Florida and then fled the United States in order to evade his support obligations following the issuance of arrest warrants in 2000 and 2002. He spent much of the past decade in the Kingdom of Thailand where he operated a business.

Sand was arrested in late November 2012, upon entering the Republic of the Philippines from Thailand without proper identification documents, and on December 17, 2012, he was deported to Los Angeles, where he was taken into custody by deputies with the United States Marshals Service.

At the time of his arrest, Sand owed more than $1.2 million in back child support. According to a complaint filed in federal court on April 8, 2002, the New York State Family Court in Nassau County issued an arrest warrant for Sand on November 22, 2000, following multiple contempt findings against him in child support proceedings.

“Today, the defendant has admitted to abandoning his responsibilities to the children he helped bring into this world, and to leaving the country to do so,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Neither court orders nor the familial bond meant anything to him as he fled to avoid his obligations. Today’s guilty plea stands as a strong warning to those who would flee their lawful child support obligations that we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,”

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