Syracuse, NY -- An Onondaga County Family Court judge today warned evicted son Michael Rotondo that he could go to jail if he doesn't find a job so he can pay child support.
Judge Julie Cecile found Rotondo, 30, in willful violation of an order that he pay $56 a week to support his 8-year-old son. Today's appearance, attended by Rotondo and the lawyer for his son's mother, revolved exclusively around Rotondo's $2,600 in back child support.
"Go find a job. That's the bottom line," Cecile told the unemployed man, evicted from his parents' home last week.
Rotondo balked, saying he didn't have money to find a place to live or food to eat.
"You're asking me to make money out of thin air, and I don't have the obligation to do that," Rotondo told the judge.
"Why don't you make (child support) $2,000 a week?" he added sarcastically.
Cecile said state law allowed her to order able-bodied people to find jobs so they can support their children until age 21. His $56-a-week is based on the assumption that he could make $400 a week on the job market.
"The law requires you to be employed," she told Rotondo.
Rotondo, who lost custody of his child in 2017, has claimed poor person status in multiple appeals to his custody case. He has said that his job right now is getting custody back of his son.
But the mother's lawyer, Dana Grillo, today demanded to know where $3,000 that Rotondo got for appearing on Alex Jones's InfoWars was. Rotondo said he needed it to pay rent and get food.
Grillo also brought up a $200-a-month storage locker that Rotondo rents to store a broken, late 1980s Chevrolet Camaro. He's paid roughly $10,000 in the past five years to store the car, she said.
How could Rotondo justify paying $10,000 to store a broken car, but can't come up with $56 a week to support his son? Grillo asked.
Cecile agreed, noting that she'd made the same point during a previous court appearance. "We talked about this last time, you're absolutely right," Cecile told Grillo.
The mother's lawyer also noted that Rotondo hadn't paid any child support since March 31.
"Bottom line is, I need you to get a job to make payments," the judge told Rotondo.
He called that demand "outrageous."
The judge pointed to Rotondo's fancy suit. "You have a wonderful suit on today," Cecile said, suggesting that he go find a job interview.
"How are you going to get a job if you can't live?" Rotondo retorted.
Today's hearing came after a support magistrate had recommended Rotondo be jailed for 90 days for failing to pay child support.
Cecile said early on that wasn't going to happen today. But by finding Rotondo in willful violation, that set in motion a process that could land him in jail.
The judge explained that the probation department will investigate Rotondo -- and he'll be required to cooperate -- and recommend a punishment to the judge.
That could be jail, probation or a program designed to get jobs for parents.
Rotondo acknowledged today that he'd barely tried to get help finding a job. He'd gone down to the program office and filed a resume, but had not followed up and had refused to have any information shared with the court.
He insisted that he was still making efforts to find a job, but did not say what those were.
The judge said that, based on the probation department's recommendation, she would punish Rotondo in some way. But Cecile noted that he was only behind $2,600 in child support, so jail would not likely be the punishment right away.
More likely, Rotondo could face a year on probation -- much like criminal probation -- to find a job and pay up.
If he didn't get a job, he could spend up to six months in jail.
Rotondo left court without comment. He's due back in seven weeks to learn his fate.