Most Wanted “Deadbeat Parent” Sentenced To 31 Months’ Imprisonment For Fleeing To Evade Over $1 Million In Child Support Obligations

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York, Robert D. Sand, the nation’s “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent” according to law enforcement, was sentenced to 31 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco. Sand previously pleaded guilty to two counts of traveling in interstate and foreign commerce with the intent to evade court ordered child support obligations totaling over $1 million including interest and penalties. Sand was also sentenced to restitution in the amount of his unpaid support obligations – $903,789.

The sentence 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.

At the time of his plea, Sand admitted that he 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 both state and federal court in 2000 and 2002. Sand further admitted that he had 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 of the United States Marshals Service. During the time Sand was a fugitive, his support obligations continued to grow. At the time of his arrest, Sand owed more than $1 million in back child support including interest and penalties.

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. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Sand on April 8, 2002. On September 17, 2009, an indictment was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York charging Sand with two counts of failure to pay child support, and on February 17, 2010, a second federal warrant was issued for Sand’s arrest.

“Robert Sand literally fled the country to avoid his obligation to the children he brought into this world. But law enforcement did not turn their back on those children and what they were due. This Father’s Day will find Sand behind bars, finally being held to account for his abandonment. The sentence imposed today sends a message to those who would flee their lawful child support obligations that we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “As this investigation and prosecution demonstrate, flight from prosecution may delay, but will not deny justice.” Ms. Lynch expressed her grateful appreciation to the Office of the Inspector General, United States Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Marshals Service for their assistance in this case.

In January 2012, OIG-DHHS launched a child support enforcement web page (http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/child-support-enforcement/) to seek the public’s help in ongoing federal efforts to bring fugitive “deadbeat parents” to justice. Sand was listed on the site as the number one “Most Wanted Deadbeat Parent” based upon his child support obligations totaling more than $1 million.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Allen Bode.

The Defendant:

Name: ROBERT D. SAND
Age: 51