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Judge Says He's Ready To Send 'Deadbeat Dad' To Prison

News Channel 8 photo by TODD DAVIS

"I'm going to sentence you to a sentence that will send a message to other parents in the same position," David Earley was told by the judge today.

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By MARK DOUGLAS

News Channel 8

Published: February 25, 2009

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David W. Earley

In a brief court hearing today, Pinellas Circuit Judge Frank Quesada called David Earley, 46, "the poster child of deadbeat dads" and said he is prepared to send Earley to prison for not supporting his kids.

"I'm going to sentence you to a sentence that will send a message to other parents in the same position," Quesada said.

"You haven't even paid lip service," the judge said, referring to Earley's numerous contempt citations and 19-year history of not paying child support as ordered by the court.

Earley's lawyer argued that he made some payments over the years but fell behind on others and ended up running from the law.

Court records show that Earley owed his ex-wife Sharon Earley more than $377,000 including interest for payments he failed to make on behalf of his three daughters and son. One of those children is 15, the rest are now adults.

Quesada refused to let Earley enroll in a program offered by Gulf Coast Jewish Family Services designed to help "dead broke" parents get back on their feet, find jobs, and catch up on child support.

"This project is way too late for you," Quesada said.

Instead, the judge offered Earley a three-year prison term if he agreed to plead guilty to violating his felony probation by not paying support and hiding from his probation officer for 15 months.

Earley declined the plea offer through his attorney, saying he wanted more time to think it over.

If the case goes to an evidentiary hearing, Quesada has the option of sentencing him to anything from probation to five years in prison for violation of probation.

Earley's ex-wife attended the hearing at Pinellas Justice Center along with her three daughters, and testified she thinks Earley has no intention of paying child support if given another break.

"I think he thinks it's more important to feed his horse than take care of his children," Earley told the judge.

A series of investigative reports by News Channel 8, TBO and The Tampa Tribune revealed Earley was living as a fugitive from justice with his current wife and two young daughters on a 1 1/2-acre Pasco County homestead with a horse in the backyard.

Pasco sheriff's deputies conducted a two-week manhunt for Earley after a News Channel 8 news team recorded video of him in December driving without a license and interviewed Earley in front of his wife's hair salon.

During that interview, Earley said it was "crazy" that he was living as a fugitive but said he had no immediate plans to turn himself in.

Today, there was at least one indication that Earley's jail experience isn't going so well. He walked into court with a black eye.

A sheriff's spokesman said Earley was in a fistfight Monday with two other inmates. Earley ended up in the jail hospital while the other two are in "administrative segregation" pending the outcome of the fight investigation.

After hearing the judge's prison proposal at today's hearing, his ex-wife said, "I hope this helps other families to get child support and to take it seriously."

"It's not about the ex-wife or the ex-husband," Sharon Earley said. "It's about the kids."

Earley's current wife Christina left the courthouse without comment. Quesada set a final hearing to resolve the case for 1:30 p.m. March 25.

Mark Douglas can be reached at mdouglas@wfla.com.

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