Former Walmart Exec Arrested For Missing Divorce Court

We thought we were done writing about former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sourcing executive John Ryan back in February, when he pulled the $20 million lawsuit he’d filed against his ex-wife and her attorney.

We were wrong.

On Oct. 14, Ryan was arrested and jailed in Benton County for contempt of court for not showing up at an August hearing tied to his 2011 divorce. His appearance at the hearing was mandatory, and to compel him to be there, the court had asked him to surrender his passport and post a $2,000 bond.

He did neither, and in light of his absence, circuit judge Xollie Duncan issued a warrant for his arrest on Aug. 17. Deputies finally arrested him at his home at Pinnacle Country Club.

And how much was his bond, you might ask? Try $344,530. That’s the $325,560 his ex-wife, and the court, says he owes under the terms of his divorce decree, plus nearly $19,000 in attorney’s fees.

According to court documents, Ryan did not completely pay up when he cashed out his Walmart deferred compensation, or when he settled an unrelated lawsuit. He also stopped paying on his son’s truck and his son’s education. Those are all violations of the divorce decree, and all of it added up to a trip to jail, where, as of press time, he still languished, according to the jail’s inmate roster.

Real estate records show that his home at 3 LaCoste Court in Rogers went into foreclosure in July and was later sold by Signature Bank of Arkansas to 6th and B LLC of Little Rock for $575,000.

Real estate records, however, also indicate Ryan still owns the 11,500-SF home at 2 LaCoste Court, which appraises for $2.6 million.