SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois couple has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines with intent to engage in sexual activity.
Thirty-seven-year-old Nicole and 46-year-old Calvin Eason were sentenced Tuesday by Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid, who also ordered each to serve a lifetime term of supervised release.
In December, a federal jury in Peoria found Nicole Eason of Danville guilty of the charges. Calvin Eason of Westville pleaded guilty in November.
Prosecutors alleged the Easons participated in an online discussion board with adoptive parents seeking new homes for children they no longer wanted or couldn't care for. The Easons allegedly convinced one couple to bring a child to Illinois who was abused. Prosecutors say the Easons kidnapped a second child in 2008.
