A federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia has convicted Russian citizen Elena Pendergrass of international parental kidnapping. The conviction follows evidence that Pendergrass took her infant daughter to Kazakhstan and arranged for her to be transported into Russia without the father’s knowledge or consent.
Lindsey Halligan, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, commented on the case: “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, said: “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—also known as Elena Stukalkina—lived in Alexandria. A DNA test had confirmed paternity before birth, but after delivery she listed “unknown” as the father on the birth certificate despite his desire to be involved.
On June 5, after filing for paternity, visitation, and custody in domestic relations court, the father was met with threats from Pendergrass about their dual citizenship status. On June 26, 2025, she filed an emergency passport application for their daughter using documentation that omitted any reference to the father. She obtained a U.S. passport for her daughter on June 27 and flew with her from New York through Istanbul to Kazakhstan on June 28.
While outside the country with their daughter—and unbeknownst to her—the father was granted sole physical and legal custody by a court. In July, Pendergrass returned briefly to New York to secure a Russian visa for her daughter before sending it along with the passport back to Kazakhstan. The documents enabled the child’s grandmother to transport her into Russia.
Pendergrass is scheduled for sentencing on March 19, 2026 and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years in prison; final sentencing will be determined by a federal district judge based on guidelines and statutory factors.
The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meredith J. Edwards and Nicholas A. Durham.
Additional information about this case can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva or through court records available via PACER by searching Case No. 1:25-cr-252.