Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who staged her own kidnapping last year, entered a guilty plea on Thursday and managed to avoid being sentenced to jail time, as reported by CBS affiliate WIAT.
Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, told Hoover police that she was taken on July 13 after sighting a toddler on the side of the road. She told police that an unknown male had forced her over a fence and into a car. For the following 49 hours, hundreds of officers and volunteers looked for Russell.
She returned home unexpectedly on July 15 and told officers she remembered being in a trailer truck with a man with orange hair and a lady. She also claimed she could hear a baby sobbing inside the truck.
Russell informed the police that she was eventually able to flee. The police were dubious of her timeframe. She eventually admitted to faking the abduction.
The individual admitted guilt on Thursday for submitting a false police report and providing law enforcement with misleading information at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Bessemer, as reported by WIAT. Rather than being incarcerated, Russell will be given a suspended jail sentence lasting six months. Additionally, she has been placed on probation for a year and is required to complete 100 hours of community service.
The judge ordered Russell to pay $18,000 in restitution to the city of Hoover.
