Bill Kamal reached the lowest point in his public life Friday when a Miami federal judge sentenced the ex-TV weatherman to five years in prison for using the Internet to entice a boy to have sex with him.
He also was given a $20,000 fine and supervised parole for the rest of his life.
The fired WSVN-FOX 7 meteorologist, who turned 48 last month while in custody, expressed remorse to U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore over his crime: Traveling to St. Lucie County on Oct. 24 for what he thought was going to be a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old.
The supposed teen turned out to be a police detective who had posed as a teen in an online chatroom. Kamal's TV weather career crashed as fast as it takes to click off the tube. And he quickly became the most familiar face in a rising number of child-exploitation defendants prosecuted in federal court.
Kamal, who pleaded guilty in December, worked for a decade as a WSVN-FOX 7 weatherman. He had developed a reputation as a marathon weatherman, especially during his around-the-clock coverage of four hurricanes during last summer and fall's record-setting season. Life was good -- he owned condos in Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale as well as a Jaguar.
Before moving to Miami, the University of Massachusetts graduate had previously been a weatherman for TV stations in Washington, DC, Indiana and Atlanta.
Kamal, the youngest of three boys who grew up in a Christian Arab family in immigrant-rich Lawrence, Mass., native, aspired to be a meteorologist since childhood. Before Friday's hearing, family, friends and business associates sent the judge more than a dozen letters to remind him of Kamal's complete life -- from his career to his compassion -- not just his crime. Under the sexual-predator laws, Kamal faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, though the judge had discretion to impose up to 30 years.
''Whether it was taking his Godmother on a surprise European vacation, spearheading the planning for our late mother's 80th birthday party, or simply showing kindness to a neighbor, he has always been there for all of us, and we are desperately trying to be there for him,'' his brother, Daniel Kamal, wrote.
''There is no doubt my brother's reputation and his career have been destroyed by his lapse of judgment,'' he continued. ``Please, your honor, send him back to us as early as the law allows.''
A week before St. Lucie County police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Kamal and charged him with enticing a minor, Kamal entered an America Online chatroom called Boyzformen.
He made plans to meet the 14-year-old boy, who was actually Neil Spector, a St. Lucie sheriff's office detective who often poses as a teen in chatrooms.
In his communications to the supposed teen, Kamal communicated by e-mail, instant messages and chatroom conversations. He introduced himself by saying he's masculine, with a lean, muscular body, and that he was looking for a son to have sex with.
Kamal mentioned having sex but said it wasn't the most important thing. The arrest affidavit quotes Kamal: ``I'm really lookin 4 a real son . . . i'm not lookin 4 quick sex.''
He said he needed to be very discreet, adding, ``I could drive up there and meet you some weekend.''
Then Spector asked Kamal if he was a cop.
''Nope, just a cool dude who works in the media and has to be VERY DISCREET,'' Kamal allegedly wrote.
Kamal set up a meeting and drove to Fort Pierce.
When he was nabbed after stepping from his black Jaguar outside a convenience store, Kamal was dressed in a sleeveless shirt, shorts and flip-flops -- a strikingly different image than his normally natty appearance on TV.
As part of his guilty plea, authorities seized Kamal's two computers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Waters prosecuted the case.
