A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia has convicted Russian citizen Elena Pendergrass of international parental kidnapping. The conviction follows an incident in which Pendergrass took her infant daughter to Kazakhstan and arranged for the child to be transported into Russia without the knowledge or consent of the child’s father.
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, stated, "Elena Pendergrass’ crime is an act of extraordinary cruelty and endangerment. Pendergrass vengefully separated a parent from a child, abandoned the child in extreme isolation at just one month old, and took steps intended to move the child beyond recovery. Today’s verdict marks an important step toward achieving justice and reconciliation for the victims in this case."
Reid Davis, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office's Criminal Division, commented on the case: "When Pendergrass took her one-month-old baby to Kazakhstan without the child's father's knowledge or consent, she deprived a father of his parental rights and her daughter of a relationship with her dad. The FBI will spare no effort to bring the child safely home to the United States."
Court records show that before her daughter's birth on May 21, Pendergrass resided in Alexandria and had ordered the father to stop all communication after a DNA test confirmed paternity. After giving birth, she listed “unknown” as the father on their daughter’s birth certificate despite his desire to be involved.
On June 5, after learning about his daughter’s birth, the father petitioned for paternity, visitation, and custody through a domestic relations court. In response, Pendergrass threatened to take their dual-citizen daughter to Russia. She filed an emergency passport application for her daughter on June 26 in Washington D.C., again listing only herself as parent. The next day she received a U.S. passport for her daughter and traveled with her from New York through Istanbul to Kazakhstan without informing or receiving consent from the father. During this time, sole physical and legal custody was awarded to the father by a court.
Pendergrass returned briefly to New York on July 13 to secure a Russian visa for her daughter before sending both documents back to Kazakhstan via an intermediary. The child’s grandmother then used these documents to take her into Russia where she is believed to remain.
Pendergrass now faces a mandatory sentence of three years in prison when sentenced on March 19, 2026. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge based on statutory factors and sentencing guidelines.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Nicholas A. Durham are prosecuting this case.
Further information can be found at the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and related court documents are available via the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or PACER by searching Case No. 1:25-cr-252.
