Russian mom convicted of kidnapping American daughter sentenced to 7 years in prison

A Russian-born woman convicted of kidnapping her daughter after her American husband was awarded joint custody during a divorce has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 38, was sentenced Thursday to 84 months in prison after convictions for international parental kidnapping and attempting to extort money from the child’s father, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release. A jury found her guilty in March, and she had faced up to 43 years in prison.

Prosecutors had charged her under the last name Mobley, her married name, though she now goes by Osipova.

During the trial, federal attorneys said that Osipova took her daughter to Russia in April 2014. Her now-ex-husband, Brian Mobley, had filed for divorce in Sedgwick County District Court in Wichita and had been awarded joint custody. At the time, Osipova was pregnant with their second child, who was born later that year in Russia.

Mobley was later granted full custody of both girls. They remain in Russia, even though Osipova’s previous defense attorneys had indicated that they expected the girls to be back in Kansas in August 2018.

A GoFundMe page identifies the girls as Sophia and Isabella Mobley. Sophia, 6, and Isabella, 4, are listed on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

The Russian Embassy has previously demanded that Osipova be released.

“We demand that the #US authorities stop their lawless behaviour and release the Russian citizen Bogdana Osipova, thus returning the mother to her children,” the embassy said in an April tweet.

Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov previously rejected a plea from Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kansas, that the girls be reunited with their father, who was a U.S. Air Force recruiter in Wichita when they were taken to Europe. Antonov told Estes that the Russian citizen has been a victim of “discrimination and psychological pressure” in the federal criminal case and pointed to a Russian court ruling that found the children should remain in Russia.

Estes has been working to reunite the children with their father.

“It must be understood that we do not seek to destroy Ms. Osipova’s life, nor does Mr. Mobley,” Estes previously said. “Mr. Mobley has repeatedly stated that he wants Ms. Osipova to remain in Sophia and Isabella’s life.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova previously said that Osipova’s “claim to her ex-husband for alimony, which was supported by a Russian court, was qualified there (in U.S. court) as extortion.” Zakharova said the children are living with relatives in Kaliningrad, and that they are being deprived of their mother as their father provides no financial assistance.

”After several years of court battles and delays, I am pleased this case has finally come to a close,” Estes said in a statement. “Following today’s sentencing, Russian authorities have no choice but to work with the U.S. to reunite these children with their father. To that end, I will continue working with the State Department to help solve this case.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo previously told McClatchy that he could not discuss the specific details of the case.

“We’re always concerned when we have issues of that nature,” Pompeo said.

“But suffice it to say the State Department does its best to make sure parental rights are treated fairly. And when we’ve got issues surrounding abductions when U.S. citizens have been taken wrongly the State Department is always fully engaged to make sure we get those folks to the right place.”

Contributing: Bryan Lowry of McClatchy.

This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 5:24 PM.