TUPELO - A former professional athlete is going to jail for failing to pay child support, Attorney General Jim Hood said this week. Roosevelt D. Linston was taken into custody on Feb. 4, after having his probation revoked, for leaving the state of Mississippi and not paying his court-ordered child support.

Linston, a former European League basketball player, lives in Tupelo and owes more than $16,000 in child support payments. Oktibbeha County Circuit Court Judge James T. Kitchens, Jr., ordered Linston to pay $600 on Feb. 4, and placed him in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections until the arrearage amount of $16,500 is paid in full.

Linston will spend six months in prison and then he will be moved to the Greenwood Restitution Center.

The attorney general's office said that Linston, 40, was served an indictment on Aug. 18, 2008, for "willfully refusing to provide support and maintenance for his natural child." Officials also said at the time of the indictment, Linston was already in the Lee County jail on other charges.

Linston also has a prior felony sale of cocaine charge with MDOC.

Initially, in May 2009, Judge Kitchens sentenced Linston to five years in jail, suspended, for Felony Non-Support of a Child.

"The judge was trying to give this defendant a chance to do the right thing, pay what he owed and avoid jail time," said Attorney General Jim Hood." This deadbeat dad did not take care of his responsibility, so he is going to jail."

General Hood said arresting fathers in Mississippi who refuse to acknowledge their responsibilities to their children should serve "as an example to deadbeat parents across the state."

"You have an obligation to take care of your children," Hood said. "If you don't, our obligation is to come after you."