a sentence later reduced to three years. a 60-year-old woman, she began serving her time here at the maryland women s prison in jessup, maryland. 14 months passed. then afaf khalifa, the only bargaining chip michael shannon had left to get back his children, disappeared. she was suddenly gone. reporter: deported back to egypt. before the state of maryland, before the prosecuting attorneys, before even michael shannon knew she d been released from prison. were you notified? no. no. the office was not notified that she d been paroled, nor that there would be any action taken by immigration officials. at the time. reporter: if you re wondering how that could have happened, you re not alone. the state department told cnn it doesn t interfere in deportation cases, that is up to the u.s. immigration service.
father allowing the children to visit and spend time with the grandmother. and she was actively involved in helping the children travel to egypt. it was well planned? it was well planned. reporter: it had to be. michael shannon held the passports for both of his boys in a safe at home. he had legal custody of adam, and jason was not allowed to leave maryland without the father s consent. but there was a loophole. early in 2001, one parent could simply call the state department and report a child s passport lost, apply for a new one, and it was granted. that is exactly what nermeen khalifa had done. the egypt air tickets were purchased in new york by a relative. the khalifa family arranged for an international moving company to empty the apartment where nermeen khalifa was living. and in the final days of august afaf khalifa would arrive to
by immigration officials. at the time. reporter: if you re wondering how that could have happened, you re not alone. the state department told cnn it doesn t interfere in deportation cases, that is up to the u.s. immigration service. and no one from immigration has returned multiple phone calls and e-mails, asking for comment. michael shannon hired the lawyer who arguably knows more about international child abduction than anyone in the country, who believes the u.s. government not only has done nothing to help, it may have expedited afaf khalifa s deportation. these are american boys, american citizens. they re not entitled to be egyptian citizens. and they ve been held in a foreign country for 12 years, and the government unfortunately has done nothing about it. reporter: michael shannon turned to an egyptian court for help hiring an egyptian attorney to help him enforce his u.s. custody rights.
negotiation with the family in egypt to say, okay, we give, we re going to bring these kids back? not that i m aware, no. reporter: a judge heard the case and sentenced afaf khalifa to ten years in prison on multiple counts. a sentence later reduced to three years. a 60-year-old woman, she began serving her time here at the maryland women s prison in jessup, maryland. 14 months passed. then afaf khalifa, the only bargaining chip michael shannon had left to get back his children, disappeared. she was suddenly gone. reporter: deported back to egypt. before the state of maryland, before the prosecuting attorneys, before even michael shannon knew she d been released from prison. were you notified? no. no. the office was not notified that she d been paroled, nor that there would be any action taken
michael shannon held the passports for both of his boys in a safe at home. he had legal custody of adam, and jason was not allowed to leave maryland without the father s consent. but there was a loophole. early in 2001, one parent could simply call the state department and report a child s passport lost, apply for a new one, and it was granted. that is exactly what nermeen khalifa had done. the egypt air tickets were purchased in new york by a relative. the khalifa family arranged for an international moving company to empty the apartment where nermeen khalifa was living. and in the final days of august afaf khalifa would arrive to supervise the escape. do you feel that before this woman, grandmother, left egypt that was the plan all along? that s what we believe, yes. reporter: michael shannon knew nothing. until it was too late. clinging to the belief his legal custody, the locked passports,