New Mexico Man Charged with Failure to Pay Child Support

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Ocoma, New Mexico, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for Failure to Pay Child Support.

Joseph A. Mesteth, age 50, was indicted on December 4, 2018.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on March 20, 2019, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 4 years in federal prison and/or a $500,000 fine, 2 years of supervised release, and up to $200 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that on from October 1, 2005, and continuing to the present, and from October 1, 2006, and continuing to the present, Mesteth, while residing in a different state with respect to his three children who reside in South Dakota, willfully and unlawfully failed to pay a past due support obligation as ordered in an amount greater than $10,000.00.

The charges are merely accusations and Mesteth is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Office of the Inspector General.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman is prosecuting the case.   

Mesteth was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending trial.  A trial date has not been set.