Carlee Russell, the Alabama woman who staged her kidnapping last year, pleaded guilty Thursday but was spared jail time, according to CBS affiliate WIAT.
Russell, a 25-year-old nursing student, reported to 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.
She pled guilty on Thursday to submitting a false police report and fraudulently reporting an incident to law enforcement at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Bessemer, according to WIAT. Russell will avoid jail time and instead serve a six-month suspended sentence. She was sentenced to a year of probation and required to do 100 hours of community service.
The judge also ordered Russell to pay $18,000 in reparations to the city of Hoover.