WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2019) The American former husband of Russian national Bogdana Osipova told Sputnik that he offered his ex-wife joint custody of their children.
On Thursday, a US Federal court sentenced Osipova to seven years in prison for international parental kidnapping and demanding child support from her ex-husband, American national Brian Mobley. She was also ordered to do everything possible to return her children to the United States in addition to being fined $18,000.
"This is true, I offered to give joint custody to Bogdana and still do. I have never wanted, nor will I ever, try to keep our children from their mother," Mobley said. "I feel children should have both parents in their lives."
During the sentencing hearing Mobley asked the court to give the mother of his two children a maximum prison term.
The guardian of the children, Osipova's aunt Elena Polyakova, confirmed to Sputnik that she was aware of Mobley's proposal but the family's counteroffer to release Osipova before bringing the children to the United States did not suit him.
During the sentencing hearing on Thursday, a letter Osipova sent to Mobley was raised in which she asked Mobley to recommend leniency so that she could bring the children to the United States. Osipova in an emotional speech said she wanted to give up US citizenship and go to the children in Russia. The judge decided that the evidence showed she was not going to bring the children to the United States and accused Osipova of obstructing justice.
Brian Mobley's Russian attorney Alexei Volosyuk told Sputnik that he was ready to work on legal support for a possible deal and told Osipova's relatives about this. According to him, the proposals were not received with enthusiasm.
Volosyuk clarified that, according to US law, Mobley could not stop the case against Osipova, which was being conducted by the federal authorities. Volosyuk believes that a possible agreement would have reduced the punishment for Osipova.
"I don't think she would have gotten seven years. This could have been resolved a year ago," he said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was outraged by the sentencing for the "ridiculous" charge of kidnapping. The Russian Consulate General in Houston called the US court's sentence unfair and inhumane.
Osipova left Wichita, Kansas, in 2014 with one child from her first marriage and another from Air Force recruiter Brian Mobley. She gave birth to a third child after arriving in Russia. US authorities arrested Osipova in 2017 shortly after she returned to the United States in order to change child support arrangements.
