Saratoga Springs father pleads guilty to federal charge, kidnapping children to Mexico

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A Saratoga Springs man has pleaded guilty to federal charges after he took his children without permission and fled to Mexico, prompting an Amber Alert.

Dane Stephen Richman, 46, of Saratoga Springs, was indicted in June on a charge of international parental kidnapping after he failed to return two young children to their mother at the end of a court-scheduled visit.

Utah's 4th District Court ordered temporary joint custody of two young boys, with specific exchange dates every other weekend, court documents show. The children's mother now lives in Washington but used to live in Saratoga Springs with Richman and the kids.

Richman was supposed to meet the mother at a local gas station on May 23 to return the kids as ordered. When Richman never arrived, police conducted a wellness check at his residence and found the home was empty and all property was missing, federal prosecutors said in a motion for detention.

"Richman quit his job, abandoned his home in Saratoga Springs and cleaned out his bank accounts," prosecutors said.

Investigators determined Richman had contacted the children's mother and claimed he had taken the children camping in California. But instead, he crossed the border in southern California with the children, prosecutors said.

That evening on May 23, police issued an Amber Alert on all digital signs on Utah highways. Police sent an alert to all cellphones in Utah around 7:30 a.m. the next day, and a few hours later, they issued a warrant for Richman's arrest.

The warrant stated Richman was in a dire financial situation, and "it seems that Dane has possibly been planning this attempt to kidnap the children several days, if not multiple weeks, in advance."

FBI detectives joined the search and located Richman and the kids in San Felipe, Mexico. The Amber Alert was canceled on May 26 after the children were found safe.

Richman was arrested, and the children were reunited with their mother, who was granted temporary sole custody, according to a court motion. He was charged in 4th District Court on May 24 with two counts of custodial interference, a third-degree felony.

"The defendant went to great lengths to hide his true intentions and conceal his actual locations. Evidence indicates that the defendant never intended to return the children to the United States," federal prosecutors said.

On Sept. 30, Richman pleaded guilty to the charge, saying he picked up his kids on May 16 and was supposed to return them on May 23. But on May 22, he emailed his attorney saying he no longer needed her help and would not be attending a scheduled deposition, his plea agreement said.

"Prior to that I quit my job, left my home in Saratoga Springs in foreclosure, and cleaned out my bank accounts. I had given my motorcycle and pickup truck to a friend as collateral in exchange for assistance with legal expenses from the custody dispute," he said in his plea statement.

Richman admitted in his plea that he failed to return the children at the agreed-upon location and told the mother he had been camping in California.

"However, after I picked up the children from her house in Washington ... I took them to southern California, where I crossed with them into Mexico on or about May 19, 2026. We crossed the border into San Felipe, Mexico, which was contrary to the state court custody order," he said.

His plea states Mexican authorities arrested him and took custody of the children before handing him over to U.S. custody.

The plea deal recommends he be sentenced to time served, one year of probation, and to abide by any further court custody orders regarding visitation with the children. The plea also stipulates that he only be allowed supervised visitation with the children and to complete a mental evaluation.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 16.

According to court documents, Richman has a significant criminal history with three felony convictions and seven misdemeanor convictions of theft, money laundering and fraud, dating back to 2001. Federal prosecutors also said he was listed as a fugitive from Florida in 2011.

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