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Wilbanks Indicted on False Crime Charge
May 25, 11:42 AM (ET)
By DANIEL YEE
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks was indicted Wednesday on charges that she lied to police about being kidnapped, two counts that could mean up to six years in prison.
A grand jury indicted the 32-year-old woman on one count of making a false police report, a misdemeanor, and one count of false statement, a felony, said Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter.
The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, he said. The other count carries a penalty of up to a year.
"We believe this is a reasonable next step in the case. We believe the grand jury made the right decision," Porter said.
"At some point you just can't lie to the police," he said. A bench warrant will be issued for Wilbanks' arrest within the next few days, he added. No court date has been set.
This indictment does not rule out a possible plea agreement to lesser charges, Porter said. Authorities had said they were talking to the Wilbanks family about a possible deal.
Wilbanks' attorney, Lydia Sartain, has said she does not think Wilbanks committed a crime in Gwinnett County. Authorities in Albuquerque had said they would not charge Wilbanks.
"The citizens of the county will be ill-served by an attempted prosecution," Sartain said before Wednesday's charges were announced. She did not return a phone call seeking further comment Wednesday morning.
Wilbanks disappeared from her Duluth home on April 26, days before her planned wedding, after claiming that she was going for a jog.
While Georgia authorities looked for her, the woman traveled to Las Vegas by bus and then to Albuquerque, N.M. There, she called authorities with a story about having been abducted and sexually assaulted.
But under questioning, she recanted and said she fled Georgia because of unspecified personal issues. She returned to Georgia on April 30, the day she was to have been married in a lavish ceremony with 600 guests.
Her disappearance prompted a massive search and nationwide publicity. City, county and state officials spent about $50,000 looking for her.
Several state and county agencies already said they will not ask her to reimburse them for a total of $10,000 spent in additional search costs. But the city of Duluth still is seeking repayment of about $40,000 and Mayor Shirley Lassetter said her city attorney has been in negotiations with Sartain.
