Deadbeat dad fitted with GPS device
When scallop fisherman Robert A. MacDonald departs for his work trip next week from his hometown of New Bedford, the state Department of Revenue will track the delinquent child supporter, and know when he returns.
That's when they plan to grab a substantial portion of his trip earnings to be leveraged toward the more than $86,000 MacDonald owes for past support dating back more than a decade to his former wife and the state.
The 24/7 surveillance is the result of the Department of Probation affixing a GPS/Electronic Monitoring Program Operations device to MacDonald's ankle Tuesday, one day before his court appearance.
"It shows where you are at every minute of the day, and was not used in DOR cases until MacDonald," Department of Revenue spokesman Bob Bliss said.
Since 2005, when a radio frequency and GPS/ELMO were introduced, initially to track sexual offenders, the state Office of Probation reports almost 500 are actively being tracked by GPS for an assortment of violations.
With the GPS, those monitored "can be tracked to the minute" anyplace, including boats. The device, a little bigger than a cigarette pack, can tell the person's whereabouts days before at a given time, said Coria Holland, state probaton office director of communications.
Bristol County Chief of Probation James Casey said their family and probate court added two GPS monitoring bracelets this year to five others used.
"Mr. MacDonald, you know you're in our sights and not going anywhere quietly," Probate and Family Court Judge Anthony R. Nesi told MacDonald during a session Wednesday that took five minutes after months and years and numerous court appearances tracking down the wayward father of two children.
That's included nearly a year of related jail time dating back to about 2001, including a 30-day stint Nesi ordered after he failed to appear and pay $1,500 he promised when recaptured by constables in August.
While MacDonald has yet to cough up new money besides the garnishing of his unemployment checks, the DOR and the court had reason to believe that's about to change. He begins a 10- to 14-day fishing trip on Tuesday or Wednesday, he told the court.
Under contempt charges upheld by Nesi, he's ordered that MacDonald notify his probation officer when he leaves and returns from fishing trips; that the DOR have access to his fishing trip checks from the "settlement house" that calculates deductions and makes payments to fisherman; that he provide proof of income from each catch and only deductions for rent be allowed before the court decides how to divvy up the balance.
MacDonald, 48, of 1279 Acushnet Ave., told Nesi he was "four months behind" in rent.
Bliss estimated a scallop fisherman like MacDonald can take home $4,000 to $7,000 a trip.
MacDonald, clean-shaven, dressed in a neat plaid sport shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, showed the black GPS monitoring device, with an attached cell phone, to a reporter.
"The court has been very fair with me," MacDonald said. He said he appreciated being able to wear the GPS/ELMO because "it allows me to stay out of jail and to work" to pay back the funds.
Asked why he's gone since the early 1990s paying virtually no support, MacDonald said, "That's not necessarily true. … I've paid a lot."
He said records show he made a $9,000 payment and several others of about $1,000.
Bliss said that since 1997, DOR records show MacDonald has paid to Johanna S. MacDonald, his former wife of 16 years, $30,085.50. That includes unemployment checks garnisheed over a number of years.
While his $150 a week support requirement for minor children ended in August 2005, MacDonald has been ordered to pay $500 a month for past due arrearages. On Aug. 22, Nesi increased back payments to $250 a week, records show.
The more than $86,000 the DOR has sought in court includes $27,511 to Johanna MacDonald of New Bedford, and $58,789 owed to the state for family payments because of the father's lack of support.
When interest and penalties are added, the DOR says MacDonald owes more than $100,000 each to the mother and the state.
"He's told me to my face," Johanna MacDonald said in a recent phone interview, "he'd rather see me rot in jail than pay me a nickel."
Asked his reaction, MacDonald said, "I never said that. That's not true."
He said a New Bedford judge previously put him in jail for three 90-day periods related to contempt orders not to pay.
Asked why he didn't, MacDonald said initially, "It's been a hard year all around." He said the fishing industry's become highly regulated, limiting their time at sea.
"What they got out of me is what I could afford to pay," he said.
He said reports by Johanna MacDonald and others that he is part-owner of a boat and owns many other possessions are also inaccurate. "I've been living at my present address for eight years. I pay $450 a month rent. If I had all this, why am I living in a $450 a month apartment?"
Another key provision of Nesi's order yesterday tied the Probate and Family Court order against MacDonald with his probation in District Court, New Bedford. According to that court, a conviction of driving under the influence of alcohol carries probation until July 10, 2009, with a violation hearing scheduled for Monday.
If MacDonald fails to comply with any terms of Nesi's order, including probation surveillance of the GPS/ELMO, he'd be subject to a District Court violation, with police issuing a criminal warrant for his arrest, said probation official Emilio Cruz.
After MacDonald returns from his fishing trip, he is scheduled to appear Nov. 21 in Probate and Family Court, New Bedford. The judge will decide how much MacDonald should pay for past support from his fishing trip check.
"I have a feeling," Nesi said, "we're going to collect some reasonable support."
E-mail Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com.