A Hawaii man has been sentenced to 30 days in federal detention for trying to get his 2-year-old daughter a passport without her mother’s permission.

Court documents say Gregory Armin Scher planned a trip to Mexico in spite of an informal joint custody arrangement with the mother living in Missouri.

A judge Tuesday ruled Scher will serve the sentence on weekends so that he won’t lose his job. 

Authorities say Scher claimed on a passport application that the mother abandoned them.

A State Department agent who investigated found Scher and the mother communicated often. The agent says the mother didn’t know Scher was planning to take the girl to Mexico.

Scher says he regrets lying but was frustrated the mother wouldn’t let him take the girl on a cruise.