Hannah Potts pleads guilty, is sentenced for abduction hoax
GIBSON COUNTY, Ind. Hannah Potts, the Gibson County woman who orchestrated her own kidnapping last summer, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday in connection with the incident.
Potts, 24, of Princeton, was sentenced to 360 days in jail, which was suspended to probation. Gibson Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey F. Meade ordered Potts to complete 120 hours of community service as a condition of her probation.
Potts made headlines last summer when she and two friends – Joshua Thomas, 45, and Maria Hopper, 35, both from Washington, Indiana – faked Potts kidnapping. She later told police it was research for a manuscript she was writing.
Gibson County Woman Sentenced For Faking Her Own Abduction
GIBSON COUNTY, Ind. A Gibson County woman who faked her own abduction has been sentenced to probation.
Gibson County police say Hannah Potts, 23, staged her own disappearance in July of 2020.
According to an affidavit, Potts hid at a friend’s home after posting an audio clip to Facebook that “indicated that she had been abducted from near her residence while taking pictures of animals.”
When police found her, she admitted she staged the entire kidnapping for research on a manuscript she was writing.
Potts pleaded guilty to false informing, and on Wednesday, was sentenced to 360 days in jail. However, the judge suspended the probation sentence.
Hannah Potts, Joshua Thomas, Maria Hopper (Source: Gibson County Jail) By Jill Lyman | February 3, 2021 at 9:24 AM CST - Updated February 3 at 9:24 AM
GIBSON CO., Ind. (WFIE) - A man charged with false informing in what authorities call the
kidnapping hoax of Hannah Potts has been sentenced.
Court documents show Joshua Thomas pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 270 days of probation.
He’s one of three people charged in the case.
Maria Hopper
Potts is also charged with false informing.
Court records show a hearing that had been set for Thursday has been moved to March 8.
Authorities said Potts claimed the experience was for a writing project.