Carlee Russell ordered to pay almost $18,000 for hoax kidnapping, faces jail time

Alabama nursing student Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell was found guilty of false kidnapping and ordered to pay about $18,000 in restitution and spend a year in jail, the Hoover County Court director confirmed to CBS News. 

Russell's attorney appealed the decision and the case is still technically in the "investigative state," the spokesperson for the Alabama attorney general told CBS News.

Russell, 25 —who made national headlines on July 13 when she called 911 to report a toddler missing on a highway in Hoover, Alabama— pled not guilty on Wednesday. But Judge Brad Bishop found Russell guilty of filing a false police report and falsely reporting the incident, the Hoover County Court Director said.