Mom sentenced for hiding Rucki sisters on southern Minn. horse ranch
Sandra Grazzini-Rucki (left) was sentenced Wednesday for taking her two daughters, Gianna (middle) and Samantha (right) and hiding them on a horse ranch in southern Minnesota for two years in an effort to keep them away from their dad.
LAKEVILLE, Minn. (KMSP) - Sandra Grazzini-Ruicki was sentenced Wednesday for taking her two daughters, Gianna and Samantha, and hiding them on a horse ranch in southern Minnesota for more than two years in an effort to keep them away from their dad.
Gianna and Samantha, ages 17 and 16, disappeared in April 2013 from Lakeville, Minn. during a bitter custody battle between their parents. Police found the girls last November at White Horse Ranch in Herman, Minn., about 40 miles west of Alexandria.
Grazzini-Rucki was found guilty on July 28 of six counts of depriving the girls’ father, David Rucki, and their paternal aunt of parental and custodial rights. She was initially sentenced to 34 days in jail and six years of probation and additional jail time, however, after demanding to execute her sentence, she will likely be required to serve 233 days in jail.
Grazzini-Rucki was also fined $944 for each of her daughters, which represents $1 for each day her daughters were missing. She was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the Minnesota Crime Victim’s Reparations Board, which paid for the family’s reunification services, and restitution for any counseling services the victims may require in the future.