A US woman who stole a baby from a New York City hospital in 1987 and raised the child as her own has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Pettway, 51, was arrested last year after the victim, Carlina White, discovered she had been kidnapped.
She pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping the three-week-old Ms White from hospital.
Prosecutors increased their recommended sentence to 20 years, saying they had uncovered new facts about the case.
They specifically challenged the defence’s contention that Pettway had provided a stable, loving and happy home
, for Ms White for 23 years. She was raised as Nejdra Nance in Connecticut and later in Georgia.
Pettway was convicted of five crimes while Ms White was in her custody, according to a probation department, and had used cocaine from 1983 to 2005.
Ms White’s biological mother, Joy White, also told probation officers that her daughter told her that Pettway had once hit her with a shoe, leaving an imprint on her face — via redwolf.newsvine.com