Topline
Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who faked her own kidnapping last year, changed her plea to guilty on Thursday and was sentenced to 12 months on probation—a major loss for prosecutors, who were pressing for jail time after the shocking case.
Russell will pay about $18,000 in restitution after pleading guilty and will spend 12 months on ... [+]
Key Facts
Judge David Carpenter sentenced Russell to 12 months on probation, 100 hours of community service and ordered her to pay restitution of $18,000, but told her “it would be a waste of government resources to put you in jail.”
Prosecutors had asked for jail time, with state prosecutor Clark Morris telling Carpenter “because of the effect this has had on law enforcement and on the community—even if it’s weekends in jail or nights in jail, some sort of incarceration is warranted in this case.”
At the hearing on Thursday, Russell said she was “extremely remorseful” and apologized to the community, police and her family, telling Carpenter, “I made a grave mistake while trying to fight through various emotional issues and stress.”
The 26-year-old defendant previously pleaded not guilty to charges of false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident, but Alabama Municipal Judge Brad Bishop found her guilty after a bench trial in October.
Bishop originally recommended a sentence of one year in prison, but her attorneys immediately appealed the conviction.
Key Background
Russell disappeared on July 13, 2023 after placing a 911 call on the side of a highway in Hoover, Alabama. Russell claimed she pulled over after seeing a toddler abandoned on the side of the road wearing a diaper, but lost contact with the operator soon after placing the call. Russell’s strange disappearance brought nationwide attention and concern, but she returned to her parents’ home on foot about two days later. After returning home, Russell told investigators that she was abducted by a man and a woman and held in the trailer of a truck—but investigators said they were unable to verify parts of her story. On July 24, Russell admitted to the fraud through a statement released by her attorney. Prosecutors at Russell’s hearing on Thursday claimed that she was fully aware that her actions would spark a massive search effort. “It’s our contingent that Ms. Russell knew this would happen. She researched it on the computer, she had researched search terms about Amber alerts and the movie ‘Taken,’” Morris said. Investigators collaborated with the Secret Service to assist with tracking her search history just before her disappearance, and determined Russell had extensively searched about Amber alerts, including what the “maximum age” was for one to be issued.