Mother pleads guilty to ID theft to flee US with her young daughters

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An eastern Kansas woman pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to forging her ex-husband’s signature on official documents when she fled to Europe with her young daughters.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, Lawrence (Kansas) Police Department, Eudora (Kansas) Police Department, and Overland Park (Kansas) Police Department.

Samantha C. Elmer, 33, of Lawrence, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft. In her plea she admitted she forged her husband’s signature on a document giving her consent to take their two daughters to Europe. She filed the document as part of the process of getting passports for the girls.

Elmer was facing local prosecution in an unrelated matter she left the United States.

Elmer was charged in December after she returned from Europe with her 9- and 11-year-old girls.

Sentencing will be set for a later date. Elmer faces a maximum penalty of two years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.