Baby-Selling Case Ends With Wire Fraud Plea Deal
- Share via
An Irvine woman once accused of running an international baby-selling operation was sentenced Monday to 21 months in prison for wire fraud and ordered to pay $5,000 in fines.
Marianne Gati, 54, said only, “Thank you,” when U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler let her address the court.
It was a quiet ending to a seven-year battle in which prosecutors struggled to build a baby-selling case.
The case made international headlines when federal authorities alleged that she had arranged the sale of as many as 30 Hungarian infants, some for as much as $80,000.
She also was sentenced to three years’ probation.
Her husband, Thomas Gati, 52, was sentenced to a year’s probation and fined $5,000. He pleaded guilty to having filed a tax return in 1994 that failed to disclose the adoption income.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
