Alabama woman who lied about kidnapping pleads guilty to filing a false report
An Alabama woman who staged her own kidnapping in a bizarre case that captured national attention last summer pleaded guilty Thursday to charges of filing a false police report, her attorney said.
The woman, Carlee Russell, 26, was given two six-month suspended prison sentences, allowing her to avoid time behind bars if she successfully completes a 12-month probation period and 100 hours of community service. She must also pay $17,000 in restitution, her attorney, Emory Anthony, said in a telephone interview.
Ms. Russell’s name and photo dominated the news cycle in mid-2023 after she made a strange 911 call on July 13, reporting she had seen a stranded toddler on the side of a road in the city of Hoover, Ala. Shortly afterwards, she told a family member about the toddler on another call before that person heard Ms Russell screaming.
That was the last anyone heard from her before she was reported missing, prompting a statewide search. Two days after her disappearance, she showed up at her family’s home on foot and told investigators an elaborate story about her kidnapping and a harrowing escape through the woods.
But a police investigation soon poked holes in her account, turning up suspicious online searches that suggested she had planned her disappearance.
Before the end of that month, she confessed in a letter to the police, sent through her lawyer, Mr Anthony, that the whole ordeal was a lie perpetrated solely by herself. There was no child and there was no kidnapping.
The confession confused authorities involved in the search for Ms. Russell.
Hoover Police Chief Nicholas Derzis said Ms. Russell had wasted crucial law enforcement resources.
But her attorney said the sentence, a typical probation sentence for first-time offenders, was a fair outcome.
“I’m glad the judge didn’t try to make an example of her,” Mr Anthony said.
The Alabama attorney general’s office, which prosecuted the case, and other officials had hoped for a stiffer sentence.
“We are disappointed, but not surprised, that Ms. Russell did not receive the requested prison sentence for her crimes,” Katherine Robertson, the attorney general’s lead attorney, said in a statement.
Ms. Robertson added that the punishment imposed under current law is weak, and she expressed support for a proposed state law that would make falsely reporting an imminent danger to police a misdemeanor.
In Circuit Court in Jefferson County, Alabama, Judge David Carpenter told Ms. Russell on Thursday that putting her behind bars would be a waste of resources.
“While we are angry about what you did, we are not going to treat you any differently than any other person accused of crimes,” the judge said. WSFA 12, a local television station.
Ms. Russell, for her part, apologized to the community and law enforcement, attributing her mistake to poor mental health, the station reported.
“I can say with all my heart that I never had any malicious intent to hurt anyone,” she said in a statement.