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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A federal grand jury returned an indictment Monday against a man accused of taking an 11-year-old girl from her St. Cloud home to Utah, although the charges did not include kidnapping.
Antonio P. Andrade, 21, was charged Monday with possession of false identification. He allegedly used a fake Resident Alien Card last month to enter and work in the United States.
Andrade had been held in Salt Lake City on a federal charge of kidnapping Cindy Jeannette Bruno. The girl's disappearance from her home last week prompted an AMBER Alert, the national system of notifying law enforcement and the media about suspected child kidnappings.
Andrade and Cindy were found in Utah by a highway patrolman who heard the AMBER Alert and pulled over a van that matched a description. Cindy returned to St. Cloud on Friday.
Prosecutors had said that Andrade may not have violated federal law if Cindy went along willingly.
On the three federal charges filed Monday, punishment ranges from five to 25 years and a fine of $250,000.
Andrade already was charged in Stearns County on state counts of deprivation of parental rights as a backup measure if federal charges were not filed. Andrade acknowledged he had taken Cindy without parental consent, the Minnesota complaint read.
According to the complaint, Cindy's mother told police her daughter was gone and she suspected the girl was with Andrade because they had conversed the evening before and he had said he planned to leave the state.
Authorities said a letter found at Cindy's home after her mother discovered her missing translated from Spanish as, "Don't look for me." And an affidavit filed in Minnesota said the girl had talked about getting married and going to Mexico.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
