Chadwick and the former Barbara Jean "Bobbie" Crowther married in 1977 and lived in Philadelphia's wealthy Main Line suburbs. She filed for divorce in 1992.

Bobbie Chadwick, now known as Bobbie Applegate, declined to comment when reached by telephone at her home in Maine on Friday.

Applegate's attorney, Albert Momjian, said it was the longest incarceration on a civil contempt case in U.S. history. He said he understood and respected the judge's decision but was still disappointed.

"Here's a guy who thumbed his nose at a court order for 14 years," Momjian said of Chadwick. "There should be some kind of sanctions for doing that."

Momjian said he was discussing with his client options in pursuing the divorce settlement. He also was seeking a court order requiring Chadwick to wear an electronic monitoring device and barring him from getting a passport.

"My contention is that he's going to take off very quickly," Momjian said. "He's not going to stick around."

A one-time corporate lawyer, Chadwick has battled non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in prison.