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Couple who raised kidnapped child sentenced

Father gets 2-6 years in jail, mother receives 6 months

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The couple who fled 22 years ago with a child they had been ordered to return to his birth parents were sentenced to prison Tuesday, prosecutors said.

As specified by the agreement, which was struck during jury selection for their trial, Barry Smiley, 56, was sentenced to two to six years in prison, while Judith Smiley, 55, was sentenced to six months jail time and five years probation.

Barry and Judith Smiley were charged with kidnapping Matthew Propp in 1980, after their attempt to adopt him as a baby failed. Last month they pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree kidnapping as part of a plea agreement.

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As agreed, Judith Smiley's plea to the kidnapping charge was vacated at the sentencing hearing, and she pleaded guilty to custodial interference -- still a felony but carrying a lesser penalty. Prosecutors cited her poor health, including knee and kidney problems, as the motivating factor for leniency.

The Smileys also were ordered to pay $100,000 to Matthew Propp's father, Anthony Russini, as restitution for his costs in trying to locate Matthew, now 23, and for attorneys' fees.

In 1979, the Smileys were living in Queens when they were awarded custody of Matthew during adoption proceedings after the baby's biological mother agreed to give up the child.

But Matthew's father would not agree to the adoption so, after the Smileys had cared for the child for more than a year, a judge ordered the toddler returned.

After filing appeals, the Smileys instead fled the state with the child. They moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, changed their name to "Propp," and never told Matthew he wasn't their son until he was grown.

"I was never told anything. I found everything out in August of 2000," Propp told CNN last month.

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said the plea agreement saved emotional turmoil for all involved, especially Propp.

"Were there a trial, the families involved would have testified against one another, with the child they each love caught in the middle. This would most surely have alienated Matthew from his birth parents forever," Brown said in a written statement.

If the couple had been convicted of kidnapping, they could have been sentenced to up to 25 years in prison.