The chances UW sophomore Audrey Seiler will face the maximum
punishment for faking her abduction earlier this month is unlikely.
An out-of-court agreement will likely be reached before a formal
trial begins.
District Attorney Brian Blanchard charged Seiler Wednesday with
two misdemeanors for lying to police about her abduction. The
maximum penalty Seiler could receive is nine months in jail and a
$10,000 fine for each misdemeanor.
A not-guilty plea was entered Thursday on Seiler’s behalf by her
lawyers Randy Hopper, a prestigious Minneapolis-based attorney the
Seiler family hired to defend their daughter.
Seiler was not required to attend the hearing and is free on
signature bond. However, Seiler will eventually have to appear in
court for sentencing.
City Council president Mike Verveer said an agreement would most
likely be made outside of court, as is the situation with most
cases that pass through the Dane County court system.
“The vast majority of criminal cases in Dane County are settled
in advance to a trial,” he said. “It is not uncommon for many weeks
to go by without any criminal trials taking place in the Dane
County court.”
Verveer said if charged, Seiler could enter the county’s first
offenders program since she has a clean record. The most common
punishments for those in the program are restitution. Seiler could
have to perform community service and may receive probation as
well. Jail time, although unlikely, is also a possibility.
Seiler is charged once for lying to police who responded to a
call March 31, 2004, from a Department of Revenue employee who
reportedly saw her lying in the fetal position on a path near the
Alliant Energy Center.
A manhunt with 150 officers, police dogs and aircraft were then
sent out to search for the man Seiler said abducted her at
knifepoint from her Regent Apartment.
Seiler was charged for the second misdemeanor for lying to
police the next day in an extensive interview, where she retracted
her statement that someone came to her room and took her at
knifepoint. She continued to tell police, however, that she was
abducted while in the marsh.
She later admitted it was all a hoax.
The 15-page criminal complaint also said Seiler lied to police
Feb. 1, when she said she was hit in the head from behind and left
unconscious behind a building on Bowen Court. She was not charged
with obstruction for the Feb. 1 instance.
Seiler acted out on both occasions to get the attention of her
boyfriend, UW freshman Ryan Fisher. According to the complaint,
Seiler accessed Fisher’s e-mail account and found romantic e-mails
from his ex-girlfriend from Rockford, Minn., where both Seiler and
Fisher are from.
In a journal entry dated just before her disappearance, Seiler
wrote, “I love him with all my heart, but I know he needs to love
me back. I won’t be well for a while. I know that. I’ve got to go,
maybe to pray, mostly for my well being.”
The complaint states Seiler accessed her boyfriend’s e-mail
account and searched the Internet for wooded areas in Madison while
she was reported as missing. When Seiler was found, police noted
her clothes were clean, her nails freshly painted and she was dry
despite a recent rainfall.
Students said Thursday they were tired of hearing about the
case.
“We have all moved beyond the Audrey case,” UW sophomore Brigid
Harvey said. “Enough is enough.”
