PORTLAND, Maine — A Florida man was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court to five years of probation for failing to pay child support, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Jeffrey Kingman, 51, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, also was ordered to pay more than $101,000 in back payments.
He waived indictment and pleaded guilty to the charge in September.
Kingman was ordered In July 2007 to pay $216 per week in child support as part of his Maine divorce judgment, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release. Between August 2007 and March 2011, he made 57 reduced and variable child support payments totaling $12,150.
As of October 2012, Kingman owed $60,112 in child support, the release said. From October 2012 through September 2015, Kingman made no child support payments.
In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Jon Levy observed that Kingman has caused great harm to his children by financially and emotionally abandoning them over a period of years, the release said. The judge also observed Kingman had obtained full-time employment, enabling him to make payments through a wage garnishment.
If Kingman fails to make restitution or pay child-support while on probation, he faces up to two years in prison.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Support Enforcement and Recovery.