Carlee Russell Found Guilty in Kidnapping Hoax Case, Judge Recommends One Year Behind Bars

A municipal court judge found Alabama nursing student Carlee Russell guilty of two misdemeanor charges for filing a false police report and falsely reporting the incident, RadarOnline.com has learned.

During a municipal court hearing Wednesday, Hoover Municipal Court Judge Thomas Brad Bishop issued his ruling for Russell months after she claimed to see a child walking along I-459 before she went missing on July 13.

At the time, her phone, wig, and Apple Watch were discovered in her car, along with the take-out food she had ordered.

She returned in a disheveled state to her home in Hoover two days later, telling police that she had been abducted, ultimately admitting the whole ordeal was made up after authorities launched an investigation.

"She says they blindfolded her but didn't tie her up because they didn't want to leave compression marks," Chief Derzis previously said.

Russell had pleaded not guilty. After the latest development, her legal team revealed she plans to appeal the judge's ruling.

Bishop recommended a one-year sentence — six months for each charge — and ordered Russell to pay $831 for each misdemeanor charge, as well as nearly $18,000 in restitution.

Russell's short-lived disappearance triggered a police and volunteer manhunt, as well as led to a flurry of donations to Crime Stoppers in a desperate attempt to aid in her safe return.

In the days leading up to her disappearance, investigators learned that she researched terms such as "Do you have to pay for an Amber alert?"

She also checked via Google "how to take money from a register without being caught?"

Among her searches were "Birmingham bus station" and "one-way ticket from Birmingham to Nashville." She also researched the Liam Neeson movie Taken.

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Russell's attorney Emory Anthony said that after she was found guilty, they don't plan to give up yet.

"We stipulated and appealed the case and the reason behind it was that they're trying to ask for jail time, which we totally disagree with," Anthony said. "So, in fairness, there's no need of having a trial here, knowing their position. So we have stipulated and appealed the case and we'll start anew in the Bessemer circuit court."

Asked why she did it, Anthony said that will be elaborated on at a later date.

"We're dealing with issues with Carlee, and we want the best for Carlee," Anthony said. "We realize a mistake was made but we don't want to just pile on right now."