Vestal Kidnapping Sentence

One of two women accused of kidnapping two girls and holding them for almost a year at a home in Vestal is to spend ten years in prison.

29 year old Amanda Hellman is the girlfriend of the mother of 14 year old Shaeleen Fortner and 16 year old Kylea Fortner, who were taken from foster care and kept at Hellman’s home.  She was sentenced July 11 after pleading guilty in May to felony kidnapping.

The mother, 46 year old Cindy Fortner, faces two and two-thirds years in prison and is ordered not to see or contact her daughters. She is to be sentenced in September.

Hellmann apologized in court, took responsibility for her actions but blamed her drug use for making poor decisions.

Authorities had said the girls never attempted to leave Hellmann’s home.