After 14 Years in Jail over Alimony, Chadwick Finally Freed--Son Worked Tirelessly for Dad's Releas

Chadwick told the judge he didn't have the $2.5 million to pay the back alimony, so the judge stuck him in jail for, what ended up being, 14 YEARS!!!

After 14 Years in Jail over Alimony, Chadwick Finally Freed--Son Worked Tirelessly for Dad's Release

In 1995, a family court judge ordered corporate lawyer, H. Beatty Chadwick to deposit $2.5 million in the court's registry to pay alimony to his ex-wife, Barbara Applegate. Chadwick said he didn't have the money, but the court believed he'd stashed it somewhere during the divorce. So, because Chadwick didn't pay, the judge jailed him for contempt of court.

The problem is that Chadwick didn't have that kind of money.

During that time, the court hired investigators to find the money. They found nothing, but Chadwick wasn't released.

And then there was an investigation a few years ago to find the money he didn't have!

"A. Leo Sereni, a former president judge in Pennsylvania, was appointed to track Chadwick's money. Eighteen months and two accounting firms later, Sereni reported no trace beyond what had been discovered a decade before.
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"He recommended Chadwick's release, stating, 'My God -- if he had stolen $2 million, he would have been out a couple of years ago.'

The reason he was never released and was never actually sentenced was because he was found to be in "contempt of court".

This judge was able told this guy in jail for 14 years because, in a "Contempt of Court" charge, the judge believes he has given you the ability/"the key" to get out of jail if you just concede to his demand!

Contempt of court

Contempt of court in a civil suit is generally not considered to be a criminal offense, with the party benefiting from the order also holding responsibility for the enforcement of the order.
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The imposed party is said to "hold the keys" to his or her own cell, thus conventional due process is not required.

The only problem is that this guy didn't have the means (money, $2.5 million worth) to abide by the court order so ended up spending 14 YEARS in prison!!

Now the poor guy is 73 years old and is trying to figure out how he's going to support himself.

Chadwick, who is now 73, seems remarkably equable about the whole thing, describing prison as "a very artificial society." Some people use stronger words than that.

For the immediate future, Chadwick intends to live with William, but says he needs to find a job, given that Social Security is his only income. He may try to go into teaching or get his law license reinstated.

[SARCASM]Boy, sure glad they kept that criminal off the streets for 14 years![/SARCASM]

[edit on 7/12/2009 by Keyhole]

I think that the judge is sort of a dipstick.

The sort of trash who abuses what little bit of influence he/she is given.

Sort of like moderators of various forums on the web.

The judge is a part of the "hordes" of ignorance, "galloping" toward the shallow end of the gene pool as quickly as he/she is able.

Wow, and I thought it was bad when people were released after 20 years of being in prison for a crime they didn't commit.

But that's for serious things like murder, where it's better to not let a potential murderer run free. But this is craziness. Does anyone know if they are going to give him any money for the false imprisonment? What has been written doesn't seem to mention such things.

I remember seeing a guy who had been in prison for 20 years, and detectives were opening closed cases that had DNA evidence, so they could test it. This guy was found to be completely innocent, and he only received $80,000. I wouldn't trade a million a year for any prison term.

This, as many other tragic examples just scares me. I hope somebody pick up this story and help him.

The judge behind that ruling should be removed from the bench immediately if he/she is still presiding over a courtroom or at the very least sued to the gills for that blatant disregard of justice. When it was discovered by not one but two accounting agencies that the sum of 2.5 million for back alimony was never there to begin with; the man who was charged with contempt should have been released and with an apology from the judge.

This man spent 14 years behind bars for effectually complying with the court by telling verifiable truth in his defense and yet he spent almost two decades in the slammer. I have been seeing stories like this involving the courts for some time now and it is appearing to become an epidemic. We are expected to to respect the courts and judges presiding over them for following the letter of the law in a fair and just manner, however, these two simple principles are being thrown out the window. I have no solutions to the problem because I think it is too widespread. Hopefully there will be a hard-nosed Attorney General down the road who will investigate all cases of court misconduct because I don't think Mr. Holder is up to the task. This is clearly an example of a growing trend. Let me state emphatically that this is no defense for deliberate dead beat dads who refuse to supply aid to the children! I will cite two examples of court misconduct but there are many many more.

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Originally posted by Jakes51
The judge behind that ruling should be removed from the bench immediately if he/she is still presiding over a courtroom or at the very least sued to the gills for that blatant disregard of justice. When it was discovered by not one but two accounting agencies that the sum of 2.5 million for back alimony was never there to begin with; the man who was charged with contempt should have been released and with an apology from the judge.

This man spent 14 years behind bars for effectually complying with the court by telling verifiable truth in his defense and yet he spent almost two decades in the slammer.

Agree with you 100% there!

Let me state emphatically that this is no defense for deliberate dead beat dads who refuse to supply aid to the children!

Nor is it intended to be, CHILD SUPPORT and ALIMONY are two totally different things!

"Let me state emphatically that this is no defense for deliberate dead beat dads who refuse to supply aid to the children! I will cite two examples of court misconduct but there are many many more. "

I am here to tell you this is a vicious racket, or at least can be. You can be caught up money wise and still attacked. The term should be "Beat dead Dads" if you ask me. But this is the way this nation works. It performs evil disguised as goodness and justice. Anybody that blindly rolls along with the propaganda is beyond me. Either I think they have embraced the evil or wallow in ignorance.

Why I will never get married, the system is designed to destroy men who get divorced. I hope he sues and gets enough to live the rest of his life off of, even still that will never give him back those 14 years he lost. Truly sad story.

Man did this guy get railroaded.If investigators and accounting firms could'nt find the supposed money in a couple of years it probly was never there and he should have been released.Or the court could have let him return to work and pay the settlement to them x amount per year.No one received justice here.

Originally posted by AgentX09
Man did this guy get railroaded.

Here are some sentences that other people got for "stealing" $2 million, ...

S.C. Lawyer Gets Prison Time for Stealing $2M from Client

A South Carolina lawyer who fled to Canada after reportedly taking more than $2 million from a real estate client received a two-year federal prison sentence today.

Sterling Guilty: Stealing $278 Million is Only Worth 5 years

Maid Steals $2M in Raw Gold

... a maid, who admitted stealing $2 million worth of raw gold, told Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson before she was hit with an 18-month sentence.

Calgary Man Gets 3 1/2 year Prison Sentence for Stealing $2 million

The former finance manager for a Calgary trucking firm was sentenced to 3 ½ years in prison Thursday for stealing more than $2 million from his employer.

And Chadwick himself had this to say in another article, ...

Philadelphia-area man jailed 14 years for contempt of court is freed

"If I had been convicted of murder in the third degree in Pennsylvania, I would have been out in half the time I was in jail," H. Beatty Chadwick said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

The problem for this guy was that he wasn't convicted of anything!

He was found "in Contempt of Court" and could be held indefinitely until he complied with the judges orders!

[edit on 7/13/2009 by Keyhole]