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'Love & Hip Hop's' Stevie J Arrested, Owes $1M in Child Support

By Brett Snider, Esq. on June 11, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

"Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" star Stevie J has been arrested for allegedly failing to pay more than $1 million in child support for his two kids in New York.

Stevie J, whom the courts know as Steven Jordan, was arrested Monday for neglecting to pay over a decade's worth of child support, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jordan stopped paying in 2001, but the authorities kept counting until the bill reached $1,107,412.

What criminal trouble is Stevie J facing for unpaid child support?

Love and Child Support

For the uninitiated, "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" is a show on VH1 similar to "The Real Housewives: [insert city]," but about women in Atlanta involved the hip-hop music industry. And no, we don't mean "Tardy for the Party."

Stevie J has a hip-hop pedigree that includes Biggie Smalls and Sean "Puffy" Combs, but he was also allegedly tardy for something -- his child support payments. TMZ reports that Jordan had two kids with his live-in girlfriend in 1997 and 1998, leading to a 1999 child support order to pay $6,600 a month.

Most states and federal law allow a court to issue an arrest warrant for deadbeat dads and moms who refuse to pay child support. Since Stevie J is accused of refusing to pay child support to his baby mama in other state, Jordan's case is in federal court. Federal law allows for up to two years in federal prison for dads who willfully owe more than $10,000 in child support.

According to the AJC, Jordan's criminal complaint alleges he stopped paying child support in 2001, meaning he hasn't paid one red cent over the last 13 years.

Bail and Restitution

Jordan was being held in federal custody, and he will have the opportunity to argue for bail on Wednesday. A judge will consider Stevie J's likelihood of returning to a federal court in New York for his next court date as well as his history of allegedly shirking legal responsibilities in determining his bail amount.

Whatever the bail is, it's not likely to match what Jordan will potentially owe in restitution if he's convicted. Under federal law, those convicted for failure to pay child support must pay back the total unpaid child support as it exists when they are sentenced.

Hopefully, Stevie J. has some "Love & Hip Hop" money to burn for his child support case.

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