SerpApi.Org
A former FBI Most Wanted fugitive was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison in St. Louis after admitting he trafficked a Missouri girl for sex over several years.
Donald Eugene Fields II, 62, pleaded guilty in April to child sex trafficking. Prosecutors said he accepted money, vehicles, vacations and other valuables from men in exchange for sexually exploiting a girl who was 14 when the abuse began.
Among those men was Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., who later pleaded guilty to traveling with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct after he took the victim to Florida in 2016, court records show.
During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp said Fields' crimes “warranted extreme punishment.”
Fields became a fugitive after failing to appear in Franklin County Circuit Court on related state charges in 2022, authorities said. He was arrested in Lady Lake, Florida, during a January 2025 traffic stop after officers learned he was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, authorities said.
“Donald Fields II believed he could outrun justice by fleeing to Florida after committing reprehensible crimes against a child in Missouri. He was wrong,” said Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division. “Today’s sentence holds Fields accountable for the lifelong trauma he inflicted on his young victim. I commend the remarkable courage of the victim, whose willingness to come forward made justice possible, and the unwavering dedication of FBI investigators and our law enforcement partners — especially the Lady Lake Police Department.”
The FBI and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office jointly investigated the case with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Federal prosecutors said the case was part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood initiative targeting child exploitation.
Sartori, 65, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after admitting in federal court in August 2024 that he traveled with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
