BIRMINGHAM -- U.S. District Judge Karon Bowdre today sentenced a Birmingham man and former fugitive to 20 years in prison for transporting a 9-year-old girl across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual conduct, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

Judge Bowdre sentenced RONALD LOYD WHITWORTH, 37, in accordance with a plea agreement he entered with government prosecutors. That agreement specified the 20-year sentence, which was binding on the court if the judge accepted the plea agreement.  Judge Bowdre accepted it in September.

The judge ordered Whitworth be placed on supervised release for the rest of his life after serving his prison sentence. She also prohibited him from any unsupervised one-on-one contact with children under 18. The law requires that he register as a sex offender.

U.S. Marshals arrested Whitworth as a fugitive in Linwood, Wash., in August 2008, shortly after his case was presented to a federal grand jury. He was living there under the alias, Richard Dailey. He has remained in custody since his arrest.

"Whitworth tried to escape justice, but failed,” Vance said. “His days of preying on children have ended. We will always seek the longest sentence possible for those who exploit the young and innocent,” she said.

“The special agents of the U.S. Secret Service and the officers of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department who investigated this case, along with the deputy U.S. marshals who tracked and apprehended Whitworth, are to be commended for bringing him to justice,” Vance said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laura D. Hodge and Daniel Fortune prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

 

 

 

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