As we reported on Wednesday, Miss Carlee Russell was found guilty of misdemeanor charges of filing a false report to law enforcement and falsely reporting an incident.
The 26-year-old gained national attention when reports surfaced that she was abducted in an elaborate story. However, following an investigation into her claims, it turned out to be all a lie.
Miss Russell made a court appearance yesterday where she entered not guilty pleas in municipal court. After being found guilty by a judge who recommended up to a year in jail and a fine of over $17,000, her attorney Emory Anthony said an appeal was already filed that afternoon and she remains out of jail. “This was the option that we had to take because we do not agree with her serving any time in jail,” Anthony. told USA TODAY. Meanwhile, defense attorney Richard Jaffe also said in a telephone interview that they do not think jail time is appropriate since they agreed to an arrangement called “stipulate and appeal” which is a court agreement in which a defendant acknowledges the evidence against them by entering a guilty decision is entered and the case is appealed to the circuit court.
“We’ve requested a jury trial. That gives us an opportunity between now and then to explore all of our options and to try to work something out with the prosecution that does not involve jail time but does involve a fair restitution amount,” Jaffe said.
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More On Carlee Russell’s Story
The Alabama woman went missing on July 13 after calling police to report a child walking alone on Interstate 459. After disconnecting with the dispatcher, Russell contacted a family member who said they heard Russell scream before completely losing contact with her.
After a frantic two days, she shockingly returned home and told police that she had been forced into an 18-wheeler and abducted. She also claimed she was captured and taken to a house where she was blindfolded and forced to get undressed but said she was able to escape.
Meanwhile, police revealed that there was no evidence that a toddler was ever walking down the side of the highway and there were no missing children reports around that time. Hoover police later confirmed that Russell made up the entire kidnapping incident.
Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis previously said he was frustrated that Russell was only being charged with two misdemeanors despite causing great panic and disruption to the community. However, he noted that the law did not allow for enhanced charges.