Passport Denial Program Catches Former St. Mary's County Resident Returning to Country with New Bride
BALTIMORE (Feb. 11, 2008) — Department of Human Resources (DHR) Secretary Brenda Donald announced today the State of Maryland recently collected one of the largest payments ever for nonpayment of child support when authorities arrested a 46 year-old Virginia man returning to the country after a Bahamian honeymoon with his new bride.
Maryland collected $139,000 in delinquent child support payments from Karl E. Hoffman, of Arlington, Va.,
formerly of Tall Timbers, St. Mary's County, after authorities detained him at the Miami-Dade International Airport upon Hoffman’s return home with his new bride. Hoffman was held when it was discovered that his passport had been flagged. A background check revealed that he was a six-figure child support delinquent. He was arrested on a criminal non-payment of child support warrant and was detained for two weeks in the Miami-Dade jail.
Hoffman had only paid $200 since 2004 on a monthly child support obligation of $1,783. According to State authorities, for more than 3-1/2 years he had moved from state to state consequently, evading his responsibilities.
After Hoffman's arrest, he immediately paid $30,000 of his arrearage. He was then extradited to St. Mary’s County, where a judge ordered him to three years in prison, with the term suspended contingent on his paying his full arrears by Feb. 1. The payment of $109,000 was made on January 24.
DHR officials say the case illustrates how Maryland is using the Passport Denial program to collect money that is needed to support children. Working in partnership with federal authorities, Maryland more than doubled the amount of child support collected under the passport denial program from 2006 to 2007, collecting $683 thousand last year. The Child Support Enforcement Administration (CSEA) collects nearly $500 million annually.
“Passport denial is an increasingly valuable tool,” said Brenda Donald, Secretary of the Maryland Department of Human Resources, which oversees CSEA. “We are using every option we can to bring people who owe child support back to the table and make sure they meet their financial obligation to their children.