Leiha Artman MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A woman who made up a horrifying story of kidnapping, rape and assault – and later tried to implicate people in her fable – has been sentenced to a year in jail.
Leiha Ann-Sue Artman, 25, of 10831 Parkwood in Fruitland Township pleaded guilty to making a false report of a felony, which is punishable by up to four years in prison. Her status as a second offense habitual offender could have increased the penalty to up to six years.
Artman told authorities that four men abducted her from the driveway of her home on March 27, threw her in the trunk of their car before she was beaten and sexually assaulted at an unknown location, according to court documents.
The Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office did not offer any deal in exchange for Artman's plea, though Muskegon Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks agreed to not sentence Artman to prison, said Matt Roberts, the prosecutor's chief trial attorney.
Hicks sentenced Artman to 12 months in jail with credit for two days served and 24 months of probation. She also was fined $1,158.
Woman accused of making up harrowing kidnapping, sexual assault story
Artman's boyfriend reported to investigating Michigan State Police troopers that he had received text messages early on March 29 demanding money for Artman's release, documents show. The text messages, which the boyfriend showed troopers, also included photos of Artman gagged and bleeding from her head, according to the documents.
Artman reported that she later was able to call her boyfriend and he picked her up at a location near her home where her abductors dropped her off, according to the documents. Troopers interviewed Artman at Hackley Hospital on March 29.
"At a later date, she implicated certain people who may have been involved in it, but still indicated the assault was committed by people not known to her," Roberts said.
It is unclear why Artman made up the story, he said.
Artman has a 2014 conviction for resisting and opposing a police officer, as well as a felony breaking and entering a building conviction in 2007 when she was a juvenile. She also was sentenced in June to two days in jail and 12 months probation for financial transaction device fraud.
Artman was sentenced in Oceana County in February 2015 for larceny less than $200 and agreed to testify against a co-defendant in return for the dismissal of a breaking and entering a building, the Oceana County Press reported.