Wisconsin Dad Who Faked His Own Death Sentenced to 89 Days in Jail, the Same Number of Days He Was Missing By Escher Walcott and Staff Author

A man from Wisconsin who faked his own death and fled to Eastern Europe has been sentenced to 89 days in jail to mirror the number of days he was missing, according to reports from multiple outlets.

Ryan Borgwardt, 45, appeared in court on Tuesday, Aug. 28, where he pleaded no contest under a new plea deal. He had to pay $30,000 in restitution to law enforcement after misleading the police, after initially pleading not guilty to the misdemeanor, ABC News, Fox 6 Milwaukee, and WDIV reported.

Borgwardt went missing on Aug. 11, 2024, after a kayaking trip on Green Lake in Wisconsin. While authorities searched for him, his wife and children mourned his loss.

On Nov. 8, Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll announced in a press conference that Borgwardt was actually alive and believed to be in Eastern Europe. He said he took photos of his passport, changed his email, moved money to a foreign bank, and had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan.

Police called off the search for Borgwardt in early October of last year after learning that Canadian law enforcement had checked his passport on Aug. 13. Borgwardt was not extradited to the U.S. but “notified” police and “came back on his own,” said Podoll. He was booked into the Green Lake County Jail on Dec. 10, according to Wisconsin’s VINE online notification system.

Before his sentencing in court on Tuesday, Borgwardt said, “I deeply regret the actions that I did that night and all the pain that I caused my family and friends,” per ABC News.

According to the outlet, prosecutors had requested in court that Borgwardt get 45 days in jail, but the judge doubled his sentencing to reflect the number of days he was missing for.

The court heard that Borgwardt “researched and studied how to successfully disappear” and believed Green Lake’s great depth would mean that a body would not surface. He then headed to the country of Georgia to start a new life with a woman he met online, prosecutors said, per ABC News.

As previously reported by PEOPLE, authorities said Borgwardt began plotting his disappearance as far back as January, when he took out a $375,000 insurance policy — possibly to take care of his family in his absence.

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Podoll later revealed that the police had gotten in touch with Borgwardt on Nov. 11, after pleading with him to contact his family, with the help of a Russian-speaking woman. At that time, he was believed to be living in Eastern Europe and told police that he was “safe and well.”

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Borgwardt told the sheriff’s office how he pulled off his plan to disappear, Podoll previously revealed. After stashing an e-bike near the boat lodge, he paddled his kayak and a child-sized inflatable boat out into the lake and overturned the kayak to fake an accident.

He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and rode his e-bike through the night to Madison, Wisconsin. There, he boarded a bus to Detroit and then to the Canadian border. He continued on the bus to “an airport and got on a plane,” Podoll said.

PEOPLE has contacted the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office for comment, but did not immediately hear back.