The man labeled as "the No.1 Deadbeat Parent" by New York prosecutors pleaded guilty Thursday to owing more than $1.2 million to three children from two failed marriages, according to ABC News.
Robert Sand, 50, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip on Long Island to two counts of failing to pay child support. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Bode said in court that the child support orders, which were issued on Long Island, have been in arrears since at least 2002, reported Associated Press.
The quoted amount due includes interest and penalties that have accrued over the years.
Sand told the judge he fled first to Florida and then to Thailand Sand's attorney, Glenn Obedin, said his client had grown tired of living on the run and contacted authorities late last year, according to ABC News.
However, he did fly to the Philippines after his stay in Thailand, but was arrested and then deported from the Philippines in November 2012 because he lacked proper identification, prosecutors said, stated by Associated Press.
He was sent to Los Angeles, where he was arrested by federal marshals, and then extradited to New York, where he has been held without bail since December.
"He had enough and wanted to come back and have the opportunity to make it right," Obedin told reporters after the court proceeding on Long Island, according to Associated Press.
Sand faces up to four years in prison when he is sentenced in May.
"Neither court orders nor the familial bond meant anything to him as he fled to avoid his obligations," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement, stated ABC News.
The two mothers of Sand's three children were not in the courtroom for Thursday's proceeding, but Obedin has said he has contacted them and claimed their priority is for Sand to be free to earn a living so he can repay his debt. As part of the plea agreement, Sand is required to make full restitution. He waived his right to appeal the guilty plea, reported Associated Press.
Obedin said Sand has worked in the past as a car salesman and has an offer to work in that field when he is released, reported ABC News.
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