Seattle man who fled US with son on sailboat to be freed after being sentenced to time served

Published May 03, 2016

A Seattle man who took his 9-year-old son on a sailboat trip across the Pacific Ocean — instead of returning the boy home to his mother — is being released from federal custody.

U.S. District Judge James Robart on Monday sentenced Jeffrey Ford Hanson to the seven months he has already served for the incident.

Hanson became the focus of an international manhunt last fall after his son failed to return home to his mother in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, following a summer-long visit with Hanson. An arrest warrant for international parental kidnapping was issued last Sept. 12, but authorities didn't locate him until Oct. 29, on Niue (NYOO'-ay), an island in the South Pacific.

Hanson's friends suggested he might be dangerous and had a history of alcohol and drug abuse. The boy was safely reunited with his mom.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-man-who-fled-us-with-son-on-sailboat-to-be-freed-after-being-sentenced-to-time-served