John Schneider
Actor John Schneider poses with the "General Lee" car from "The Dukes of Hazard" televison show he starred in during the "Warner Brothers Television and Warner Home Video Celebrate 50 Years of Quality TV" party at Warner Brothers Studio in Burbank, California, January 20, 2005. Reuters/Lee Celano

American actor John Schneider would rather be thrown back in jail than pay his ex-wife alimony. The former “Dukes of Hazzard” has admitted he can’t pay Elvira Castle anymore, and therefore he’s asking to be locked up instead.

Last month, Schneider spent less than five hours in jail for his three-day jail sentence for failing to pay Castle alimony. The short imprisonment was due to the overcrowded prison. However, he still has to do 240 hours of community service and complete his financial obligation to Castle. He owes her more than US$150,000 (AU$202,000) of alimony.

According to People, he was also ordered to serve another 120 hours in jail for contempt. That sentence was suspended on the condition that he fulfil a four-part list of conditions, which include filing back taxes to help clear title to their property in Apple Valley. He also needed to pay Castle half of his owed earnings from Maven Entertainment, and offer certain financial disclosures before the year’s end.

But Schneider has admitted that he can’t pay his ex-wife anymore as he is already “leveraged to the max.” In a July 6 letter he sent to the judge in his case, which was obtained by People, he wrote that he had “regret and embarrassment” about not fulfilling the conditions set by the court. He said he has various loans and that Maven, which produced some of his albums, had already made several financial advances for him, and therefore his earnings have been diminished because of it.

Because he said it was “unlikely” that he could comply with the conditions, he has asked the court to lock him up instead for the remainder of the 120 hours that he was supposed to serve.

“I am willing and able to accept the punishment for my actions/inactions as to this matter and I request this court to impose such sentence without further delay,” he wrote in his letter.

However, Castle’s attorneys filed a motion to strike the letter from the record on July 17. Her lawyers want a hearing arranged so they could have the opportunity to cross-examine Schneider about his claimed financial woes.

Schneider married his second wife, Castle, in 1993. They split in 2014 after Castle filed for divorce. She was awarded US$18,911 (AU$25,461) in monthly support.

RELATED STORIES