HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Igor Slobodskyi, 51, a non-U.S. Citizen, was charged with international parental kidnapping and brought before a federal court on Thursday.
Slobodskyi, a former resident of Huntsville, was extradited from Germany to the United States to answer federal charges of international parental kidnapping. The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Felix Rivera-Esparra.
The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with law enforcement partners in Germany to arrest and extradite Slobodskyi to the United States.
Court documents state that Igor Slobodskyi's former wife was granted "sole legal and sole physical custody" of the couple's two minor children with Sloboskyi "having no contact or visitation".
Slobodskyi's indictment states that he knowingly removed two children from the United States and kept the children outside of the United States. The two children's names are being kept confidential as both are under the age of 16.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Herman N. Johnson, Jr. brought Slobodskyi before the court on a one-count indictment. The judge charging him with removing two children under the age of 16 from the United States and holding those children outside the United States with the intent to prevent the lawful use of another parent's rights.
The maximum penalty for international parental kidnapping is three years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
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The FBI investigated the case, along with the Huntsville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Leann White is prosecuting the case.
An indictment contains only charges. A defendant is still presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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