Man owes $430K in child support

SANDUSKY — For several reasons, a child support case stemming from Erie County continues to attract stateside attention. A man known as Anadaramagupta "Gupta" Chintalapalli (pronounced chin-tah-lop-oh-lee) presently owes about $430,000 in his case, which began in 1985. At its peak, the original order totaled more than $800,000 — an amount going toward his ex-wife, Laurie Chintalapalli, and their two children. "It is the highest amount of arrears (debt owed) on a single case in the state of Ohio over the last 20 years," said Karen Balconi Ghezzi, executive director at Erie County Job and Family Services. This represents a true outlier in local and statewide child support cases. "For us, it's not out of the ordinary to have a $50,000 order in arrears. It's rare to see a $100,000 order. This is something else," Balconi Ghezzi said. Many factors, most notably his employment as a former high-profile and top-raking medical standout, determined what he originally owed. "He was a doctor, a very successful surgeon, working in the Sandusky area," Balconi Ghezzi said. Beyond the monetary figure, the case's details still garner much interest. Because of his name, the case's length, the overall amount owed and its overall circumstances, many people in the state's children services circles know about it. But few in the public realm do. Through local sources and court documents, here are the case's most noteworthy details, according to a Register investigation. Where'd he go? Court documents show the couple getting married in India and moving to Sandusky in 1979. They had two children, both born in Ohio. The couple agreed to a divorce in 1985, triggering when Gupta needed to pay his first child support obligation. "After the divorce, Mrs. Chintalapalli and the children moved to Erie, Pennsylvania, and Mr. Chintalapalli moved to an unknown location," according to a court filing. "Mr. Chintalapalli did not make child support payments, and (the child support enforcement agency of Erie County's) numerous attempts to contact and advise Mr. Chintalapalli of his arrearage were unsuccessful," the filing read. Arrearage represents an industry term for money owed and/or debt accumulated. So why didn't he pay? "He disappeared. He went off the rails. No one knew where to look," said Balconi Ghezzi, who previously served as Erie County's managing attorney for child support prior to receiving a promotion as job and family services' executive director in 2011. "We actually performed a search, and we had a warrant out for him," said Balconi Ghezzi, noting he lost his job and medical license around this time. Unbeknownst to all others, authorities found Gupta "by accident" in Wyoming, Balconi Ghezzi said. "He was picked up as a vagrant, and by running his Social Security number, that is how he was found. That was around 2000," Balconi Ghezzi said. Some Erie County officials feared he would travel to India, his nationality and where he lived at one time. But federal authorities revoked his passport upon the issuance a warrant for his arrest. Short sentence Gupta served a little more than one year in prison on a felony-level charge of criminal non-support, Balconi Ghezzi said. His incarceration occurred in Ohio. He's stayed a free man since 2001, said Balconi Ghezzi, noting a judge shortened his sentence due to good behavior. Quite often, when people owe child support, they don't stay incarcerated for long sentences. The reason: In short, people can't make money in jail or prison. Conversely, while free, they can gain employment and then pay what they owe. "Most of the time, with our child support cases, we give them what are called purge conditions," Balconi Ghezzi said. "You will have it hanging over your head: Pay this amount and get a job so you can avoid jail time." Fights on several fronts Even though Gupta's children became adults during the 1990s, he still must fully offset his overall obligation. Upon leaving prison, he moved to Michigan and became a phlebotomist, Balconi Ghezzi said. It's a medical professional trained to perform blood draws on children and adults. Balconi Ghezzi then noted the following: • Around this time, he began making minimum payments totaling $50. • The original court order stipulated that he needed to contribute $3,000 a month. • In his new capacity, he argued he couldn't pay $3,000 a month as he made considerably less money as a phlebotomist compared to a surgeon. • He successfully contested the case, getting his monthly child support payments lowered to $510 — which Gupta, now living in New Hampshire, still pays to this day. His ex-wife, meanwhile, lives in New York. While somewhat successful in one battle, he ultimately lost another in relation to his case. Gupta also challenged his own paternity. "He wanted genetic testing," Balconi Ghezzi said. "He didn't believe the kids were his at all and should never have to pay child support." But the DNA tests confirmed a blood relation to his two children. Thus he began paying child support at the lowest amount legally possible. For comparison sake, a "high" case in Erie County generally comes with an average monthly payment between $200 and $250. Based on what Gupta owes, he pays about $6,000 a year in child support. And when factoring in what he owes in totality, $430,000, it would take about 72 years to pay this off in full. Right now, he's 80 years old. "It's a possibility it won't be paid in full," Balconi Ghezzi said. Why payments matter Erie County, classified as a "medium-sized" county by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, ranks among the tops in terms of similarly sized agencies collecting child support in arrears. Population determines the size of a county's classification. In 2023, about 76% of those with an Erie County-based child support case with an overdue bill make at least a partial payment toward that outstanding amount. It's well above the 2023 state average at 46%. About 6,500 people today in Erie County regularly make child support payments, the minimum amount being $80 a month. In 2023, Erie County collected about $13 million in overall child support payments. "County child support agencies work diligently to ensure that these children receive financial support for a better future," according to a county job and family services statement. "The child support program encourages responsible parenting, family self-sufficiency and child well-being. Support is key for children to grow up happy and strong." In Gupta's case, even with adult-age children in a decades-old case, he still needs to pay what he owes and follow the law, Balconi Ghezzi said. "Your failure to pay child support is a failure to follow a court order," she said. "Paying child support is a benefit to the community," Balconi Ghezzi added. "Some people just see it as punishment for the mother or father that is not in the household. But every time you have a one-parent household, you are looking at somebody that has some challenges in paying their different expenses. Child support is what is supposed to offset that problem."