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Deadbeat dad scrambles to explain driving without a license

News Channel 8 file photo by TODD DAVIS

David Earley, who has no driver's license, was seen driving this box truck around New Port Richey in January.

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By MARK  DOUGLAS | News Channel 8

Published: June 2, 2009

Updated: 06/02/2009 03:59 pm

A story on TBO.com today about a deadbeat dad seen driving without a license prompted the man to pay a hasty visit to his probation officer in Tarpon Springs.

David Earley arrived in the company of his wife at 3:20 p.m. and left about 90 minutes later, with her driving.

"We're working hard to resolve this misunderstanding," said Earley's attorney, Scott Andringa, who secured his client's release from jail last month after 112 days behind bars.

Earley left the Pinellas County jail three weeks ago by promising to straighten up and making a down payment on the $385,000 he owes his ex-wife.

"He's deserving of another chance, and he'll make good this time," Andringa, told Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Frank Quesada then.

Thursday, News Channel 8 caught Earley on camera doing two things he's not supposed to: driving and visiting the home of his current wife, who had obtained a restraining order against him as soon as she found out he was out of jail.

Earley, 44, still doesn't have a valid driver's license, according to the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. He lost his driving privileges more than five years ago for failing to pay child support.

His attorney said that he cannot comment on Earley's driving habits and that he advised his client to not speak to a reporter.

Earley was spotted last week driving away from his wife's home in New Port Richey.

"I specifically told him to not contact her or her business," his probation officer wrote in case notes, according to state Department of Corrections documents.

Earley's wife, Christina, later withdrew the injunction and it was dismissed May 18.

Andringa said Earley's contact with his wife is "trivial and unsubstantial" and does not constitute a violation of his probation because it was not done in a "willful and substantial manner."

Andringa said Christina Earley sought an injunction because her husband said something inappropriate to her before getting out of jail. They patched things up afterward, he said.

Andringa said that Earley is "staying with his wife, not living with her."

Earley's behavior doesn't surprise his ex-wife Sharon, who with whom he has four children.

"He's very defiant and obviously not taking the judge seriously, which is not surprising," said Sharon Earley.

Andringa disagreed.

"This is not a sign that he's flaunting the law," he said.

Earley had been living in plain sight as a fugitive for more than a year before Pasco deputies arrested him in January and sent him back to Pinellas to face a judge.

Before that, Earley told a reporter it was tough living as a fugitive, losing sleep and constantly looking over his shoulder.

He admitted then to driving without a license after learning he had been videotaped driving down U.S. 19 and said he would straighten everything out as soon as he came into a chunk of money.

By the time of his release last month, Earley was on his third attorney and was blaming his 19-year history of not paying child support on cocaine, alcohol and a depression problem triggered by the death of his grandmother.

Earley agreed in court last month to immediately turn over $10,000 to Earley's former wife as a show of good faith. He borrowed the money from relatives.

Sharon Earley said she received the $10,000 but not seen a penny more in the three weeks since Earley walked out of jail.

"I heard his lawyer say give him one more chance and that he'd be working in two to three days," she said.

Andringa said Earley told him he deposited $160 Wednesday with the Clerk of Courts. Sharon Earley said she checks every day and can't find any indication of a deposit.

The amount of time Earley would spend in prison could turn on how well he demonstrates his willingness to make things right, the judge suggested.

For more on this story, watch News Channel 8 at 11 p.m. tonight. Reporter Mark Douglas can be reached at (727) 451-2333.

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