A Farrell man sentenced to prison for failing to pay child support will stay there while he appeals the case.

John T. Namey Jr., 52, of 1405 Roemer Blvd., asked to be allowed to post bond while he appeals.

U.S. District Court Donald C. Nugent, Cleveland, had already denied the request, and the U.S. Court Appeal for the Sixth District, Cincinnati, came to the same decision Dec. 9, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Phillip J. Tripi.

Namey was sentenced Sept. 19 by Nugent to 20 months in prison for his conviction on eight counts of willfully failing to pay child support to his ex-wife, Dr. Pamela Lancaster of Ashtabula, Ohio, for two of their three children, Tripi said.

"That is the biggest sentence of incarceration in the Northern District of Ohio, and we believe it is one of the biggest in the country on a child support case," Tripi said.

A former osteopathic doctor -- his license was revoked by the state of Ohio in 1999 -- Namey also was sentenced to pay a $650 special assessment and serve 2 years' supervised release -- the federal equivalent of probation -- following his jail term.

Namey was not fined as he paid all of the child support prosecutors accused him of failing to pay -- $43,000 -- plus all the support he would be expected to pay through the end of 2002 -- another $7,000 -- shortly after his April 9-15 jury trial.

Nugent determined that Namey, who took the witness stand in his own defense, had lied three times under oath, Tripi said.

Namey incorrectly described the conduct of federal agents when he was arrested and denied having a checking account discovered by authorities.

He also denied he lived in Pennsylvania, but investigators found he had obtained a Pennsylvania driver's license in February 1998, Tripi said.

Namey was the primary caregiver of his ailing parents, Dr. John T. Namey, who died July 29, 1998, and Lorena Namey of Farrell, whose home he lived in.

Namey had an obligation to pay $678 a month in child support to his wife, but did not between the period of the indictment, Feb. 8, 1998, to Nov. 28, 2001, Tripi said.

He was threatened with arrest on several occasions by Ashtabula authorities for failing to pay, but would hold off arrest by making $2,000 "purge payments," Tripi said.

"He made no voluntary payments other than when a court order threatened that he be jailed," Tripi said.

Namey would use his parents' money for the purge payments, and for other personal expenses, Tripi said.

A former girlfriend testified he bought her two diamond tennis bracelets -- each worth $2,000 -- and a big-screen television, and paid her utility bills, Tripi said.

Namey, who was indicted Nov. 28, 2001, also sold property that he owned in Ashtabula, without any of the proceeds going to child support, Tripi said.

"He never displayed an inability to have access to money," Tripi said.

The case was investigated by the Ashtabula County Child Support Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General.

The appeal is pending before the U.S. Court Appeal for the Sixth District. Tripi said he has not received a brief outlining the basis of the appeal.

Transcripts from the trial are being prepared for the appellate court, Tripi said.