Former FBI Most Wanted Fugitive Sentenced to 20 Years for Child Sex Trafficking
ST. LOUIS / Monday, July 20, 2026 – A man who was once on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for child sex trafficking has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus announced Monday.
Donald Eugene Fields II, 62, provided sexual access to a child in exchange for cash and other items of value from a friend and co-defendant, Theodore “Ted” John Sartori Sr., beginning when the victim was 14 years old. From the winter of 2013 through the summer of 2016, Sartori engaged in illegal sexual activity with the minor and provided Fields cash, a car, a motorcycle, Christmas presents and vacations. In the summer of 2016, Sartori financed a vacation to Florida and drove the victim there with the intention of engaging in sexual activity with her. Fields told the minor to engage in sexual activity with Satori.
U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp told Fields during Thursday’s sentencing hearing that his crimes “warranted extreme punishment.”
Fields was indicted on federal charges on Dec. 7, 2022, after he failed to appear in Franklin County Circuit Court on pending charges there. He was arrested on Jan. 26, 2025, after a traffic stop by police in Lady Lake, Florida, when officers learned that he was on the Most Wanted list. He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in April to one count of child sex trafficking.
"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."
Sartori, now 65, is serving a 10-year prison term. He pleaded guilty in August of 2024 to one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
The case was investigated jointly by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, with assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Missouri State Technical Assistance Team. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards prosecuted the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department of Justice Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.
Contact
Robert Patrick, Public Affairs Officer, robert.patrick@usdoj.gov.
Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri
