1-year house arrest for Marshallese woman involved in illegal adoption scheme

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Forty-year-old Maki Takehisa from Springdale was sentenced Tuesday, April 27, to one year of home confinement for aiding and abetting in alien smuggling, according to a U.S. District Court document — Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division.

The charge is a violation of the Compact of Free Association, which is the agreement between the U.S. and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

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During the one year detention, Takehisa will not leave her residence without permission from her probation officer. Exceptions for leaving her residence, which need to be authorized by her probation officer, include employment, medical appointments, religious purposes.

Takehisa came to the attention of the Federal Bureau of Investigations after they received the information she was helping expectant Marshallese moms to come to Northwest Arkansas and give up their babies for adoption.

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