Man Gets 15 Years for Kidnaping Boy
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A man has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison for kidnaping a baby boy from his adoptive parents in Pacific Palisades and flying him cross-country to his natural parents in New Jersey.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Reid gave the maximum sentence Wednesday to Jonathan Cosby, 29, convicted in March of a single kidnaping count.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeanette Bernstein said the baby’s natural parents, Francis Kiefer, 42, and his wife, Bonnie, 43, of Moorestown, N.J., hired Cosby to kidnap their son from the boy’s adoptive parents, Kenneth and Barbara Smith of Pacific Palisades.
Cosby, armed with a shotgun, broke into the Smiths’ home Dec. 11, 1987, and abducted the 13-month-old child. He then flew him across country and delivered him to the Kiefers, FBI officials said.
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