NEW YORK, August 9. /TASS/. Russian national Bogdana Osipova, who also has US citizenship and is accused of taking her own children out of the US, is facing up to 83 years in prison on new charges, her lawyer Alexei Tarasov told TASS on Thursday.
"On Wednesday, the District Court in Wichita (Kansas) brought charges of extortion against her on four counts," he said. "She is facing up to 20 years in prison on each of them and a 250,000-dollar fine," the lawyer added.
Earlier, Osipova was accused of taking her children out of the US without the consent of her American husband. She is facing three years in jail on this charge.
"The trial of Bogdana Osipova is scheduled for September 18," Tarasov said. He said if Osipova’s children return to the US, her case may be reviewed. "The possibility for the return of the children is discussed, but no concrete timeframe is mentioned," he added. "I expect that she may be released in case the children return," the lawyer said.
The 37-year-old Russian, known by her husband’s name Mobley in the US judicial documents, has dual citizenship - Russian and American. She and Mobley have two underage children. The US authorities accuse Osipova of kidnapping the children, also having dual citizenship, to Russia in 2014 without their father’s consent.
The Russian was detained by FBI agents on September 28, 2017 in Wichita, where she had come over the issue of child custody. She filed a suit with city’s family court city to protest against full custody going to the father. The court noted the claim and announced the date for a hearing, but two days later FBI officers detained the woman within the framework of a criminal case opened at the suit of her former husband.
Her lawyer Kurt Kerns said back then that the Russian woman practically found herself in the situation of a hostage, as the judge said he was ready to release her on bail only if she returned the children to the US.