Sex trafficking fugitive among FBI's ‘most wanted' arrested in Lake County
A Missouri man on the FBI's '10 Most Wanted Fugitives' list was arrested in Lake County over the weekend for a license plate violation, ending nearly three years on the run from federal charges for sex trafficking his teenage daughter.
Donald Fields II, 60, was in Lady Lake on Saturday morning when he was stopped by police for having a license plate attached to a pickup truck it didn't belong to that also had a fake expiration sticker. Speaking to reporters from police headquarters on Monday, Chief Steve Hunt said Fields was in a car with a woman when he was stopped by Sgt. Michelle Bilbrey.
Fields then presented Bilbrey a fake expired license, but his true identity was uncovered after he was fingerprinted at the scene. Bilbrey, who was patrolling U.S. 441 at the time, said she was shocked a high-profile fugitive made his way to the small and otherwise relatively sleepy town.
'That's not something that you come across every day, so it was a little eye-opening to me that we have people like that riding around all over on our streets, especially in Lady Lake,' she said.
Authorities in Franklin County, Mo., had been looking for Fields after he skipped a March 2022 court hearing ahead of a local trial in which he was accused of a litany of sex crimes committed as far back as 2011, including child molestation and rape of a minor under 14. Later that year, he was federally indicted for sex trafficking his teen daughter between 2013 and 2016 to 64-year-old Theodore Sartori, who prosecutors said was a friend of Fields.
Fields was placed on the FBI's most wanted list in May 2023, with a reward for his capture set at $250,000. It's not clear how long he was in Central Florida prior to the traffic stop.
'Children from Florida and Missouri and beyond are safer today thanks to the diligence and brave actions of these officers,' FBI acting Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Greg Federico said at Monday's press conference.
Sartori is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in August to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. According to his plea agreement, Sartori agreed in 2013 to 'provide items of value to Fields' in exchange for sex with Fields' then-14-year-old daughter, which included 'cash, a Mustang, a motorcycle, Christmas presents and vacations.'
For three years, Fields' daughter was forced to work at Sartori's home, doing recordkeeping and house cleaning while he raped her. In summer 2016, according to the plea agreement, Sartori financed a vacation in Destin, where he stayed with the Fields family while still having access to the teen. Federal prosecutors said the sexual abuse stopped when the victim turned 18.
No other victims were identified, according to court filings.
The victim, now 25, wrote an impact statement ahead of Sartori's sentencing: a two-page letter submitted to the court in October that does not specifically mention Fields but alludes to her family being aware of what happened. The letter, in which her name is redacted in court records, details her emotions during the years of sexual abuse and also her efforts to overcome it, including through treatment and finding a partner who she said 'understands my past and has very carefully learned to cope with it.'.
'At 25 years old, Theodore John Sartori, I am letting you go of everything you've chained and locked in my brain so I can continue to heal and can move on to the next chapter of my life,' said the letter. 'So my children can have the healthy, happy mom they deserve.'
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