Timothy Miller Pleads Guilty to International Kidnapping Plot

Timothy Miller, a 40-year-old man from Managua, Nicaragua, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit international parental kidnapping, a charge carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine.

The plea, entered before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara in Buffalo, N.Y., marks a critical turn in a decade-long case rooted in a bitter custody dispute. Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced the development, highlighting Miller’s role in a plot to spirit a child out of the United States to evade court-ordered visitation rights.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael DiGiacomo and Paul Van de Graff, in 2009, Miller conspired with Kenneth Miller and Lisa Miller to help Lisa and her daughter flee to Nicaragua. The motive: to prevent Janet Jenkins, Lisa’s former partner and co-parent, from exercising her legal right to see the child. Both women held parental rights.

Miller purchased a one-way ticket for Lisa Miller and the girl to travel from Toronto, Ontario, to Nicaragua. Once they arrived, he provided shelter and financial support, actively aiding their concealment. His actions violated federal law and triggered a long-running federal investigation.

While Kenneth Miller has already been convicted and sentenced, Lisa Miller remains at large. Authorities do not know her current whereabouts—or those of the child. The U.S. Marshals Service in Vermont, led by David Damag, and the FBI’s Vermont office, under Special Agent in Charge Andrew Vale, conducted the investigation.

Sentencing for Timothy Miller is set for March 23, 2017, at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara. The Justice Department stresses that charges are accusations until proven; the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.