Press Release
Nicaraguan Man Pleads Guilty To Kidnapping Charge
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York
CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX: (716) 551-3051
BUFFALO, N.Y.- Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Timothy Miller, 40, of Managua, Nicaragua, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. The charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael DiGiacomo and Paul Van de Graff, who are handling the case, stated that in 2009, the defendant conspired with co-defendants Kenneth Miller and Lisa Miller to assist Lisa Miller and her daughter in fleeing the United States to Nicaragua. Lisa Miller fled the country in order to prevent her partner Janet Jenkins from visiting her daughter. The two women both had parental rights with the child.
Timothy Miller purchased a one-way plane ticket for Lisa Miller and her daughter to travel from Toronto, Ontario to Nicaragua. Upon their arrival in Nicaragua, Timothy Miller assisted Lisa Miller and her daughter with shelter and financial assistance.
Kenneth Miller was convicted and sentenced. Charges are pending against Lisa Miller whose current whereabouts are unknown as well as those of her daughter. The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The verdict is the culmination of an investigation by the Vermont Office of the United States Marshal’s Service, under the direction of David Damag, and the Vermont Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Andrew Vale, Special Agent in Charge.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 23, 2017 at 12:30 before Judge Arcara.
Updated December 1, 2016
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