(WWJ) The Attorney General of Michigan has busted a "deadbeat dad" whom she said lived large with celebrities while failing to take care of his child.
The AG's office on Wednesday announced it has recovered nearly $29,000 in past-due child support payments from UK-born artist Richard Slone, going back 10 years for the man's 14-year-old daughter.
According to authorities, while Slone’s daughter and her mother relied on state aid, he was buying million-dollar homes in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, earning tens of thousands of dollars on his paintings commissioned by celebrities, and traveling with the likes of rapper Eminem and boxer Emanuel Stewart.
The Attorney General’s Office initiated an investigation and subsequently prosecuted Slone after he consistently failed to make child support payments.
“We believe in bringing deadbeat parents to justice and collecting the child support payments vulnerable families are owed,” Nessel said. “Those seeking to shirk their responsibility as parents should heed this warning: This office will do everything we can to find you and make certain your families are properly supported.”
According to an online biography, Slone's plantings have become a much sought after "items of high society," with notable collectors including Donald Trump and Hugh Hefner. The bio states Slone is currently working on a huge oil portrait for Eminem.
Failing to pay child support is a felony in Michigan, notes the AG's office, which said it regularly pursues deadbeat parents across the nation to collect payment on Michigan-enforceable support orders.Criminal Failure-To-Pay Child Support cases are handled by the AG's Financial Crimes Division, which aggressively tracks down parents who fail to support their children.
To date the Division has collected more than $270 million on behalf of 19,000-plus Michigan children whose parents failed to support them.