A judge did not sentence an Alabama woman who pleaded guilty Thursday morning to faking her own highway kidnapping to any jail time.
Carlee Russell admitted that she filed a false police report and falsely reported an incident to law enforcement in a plea entry at the Jefferson County Courthouse, News Nation reported. The judge gave Russell a six-month suspended jail sentence, probation for one year and 10 hours of community service. The judge also ordered Russell pay approximately $18,000 in restitution to the city of Hoover, Alabama.
Alabama woman Carlee Russell pleaded guilty to filing a false police report and falsely reporting an incident to law enforcement after claiming she was abducted. https://t.co/oALHxuywxD
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 21, 2024
Russell’s boyfriend wrote on his Facebook page in July 2023 that Russell was “fighting for her life” after she was found, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. The Alabama woman reportedly said she returned home on foot after being abducted on the side of the road to help a toddler wandering alongside I-459. (RELATED: Jussie Smollett Loses Appeal In Hate Crime Hoax Case)
Carlee Russell vanished Thursday after she told her family she stopped to help a toddler along the interstate. The Alabama women is back home now, but there are still questions about what happened to the 25-year-old. @BradInvestigate joins us for more. pic.twitter.com/5oWRycUir6
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) July 17, 2023
Police located Russell’s Mercedes, which was still running, parked on the side of the road when they arrived at the scene, Fox 5 reported. Authorities also found her phone and personal belongings, but Russell and the toddler were reportedly nowhere to be found. An investigation to locate Russell reportedly lasted for two days before she appeared on her family’s doorstep.
Russell admitted during a July 2023 press conference in a statement through her lawyer Emory Anthony that she lied about the incident.