A North Carolina woman who kidnapped her Cherokee children and took them to Mexico has been sentenced. Shira Elizabeth Mattocks, also known as Shira Elizabeth Raman, will serve two years in federal prison, The Cherokee One Feather reported. She pleaded guilty to one count of international parental kidnapping in connection with the abduction of her three children. Mattocks had been involved a custody dispute with her two ex-husbands when she disappeared in November 2014. Authorities in North Carolina later discovered she had been living in Mexico with the children.SHIRA ELIZABETH MATTOCKS got their #mugshot posted to Charlotte Mugshots https://t.co/zw5YE8O7sM pic.twitter.com/FsnqkOWt9r
— Charlotte Mugshots (@CharlotteMugs) July 6, 2016
Shira Elizabeth Mattocks kidnapped her children and took them to Tamazula, Mexico, according to U.S. authorities. Photo: Wikiwand
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Mattocks and authorities in Mexico executed it in June 2016, according to a factual basis filed in federal court. She was quickly deported to the United States to face charges. The three children were found safe in Mexico and returned to the U.S. to their legal guardians, The Cherokee One Feather reported at the time. They were said to be 10 years old, 7 years and nearly 2 years old in June 2016. All three are enrolled in the tribe, the paper reported. “I would like to thank the Cherokee Indian Police Department and Tribal Court for their tireless work in helping locate the children,” Jonathan Reed Mattocks, who is the father of one child who was kidnapped, told The One Feather. “I am glad that the children are home safe and recovering well from the events they were put through. The safety and well-being was and will always be my primary concern.”
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Mattocks sentenced to two years on federal kidnapping charge
(The Cherokee One Feather 4/17)
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