Judge Karen Asphaug has denied a request by Sandra Grazzini-Rucki to serve her full sentence in prison, which would have allowed Grazzini-Rucki to avoid being on probation for the next six years. Grazzini-Rucki made the request to execute her sentence within hours of her sentencing hearing on September 21, 2016.
In July, Grazzini-Rucki was found guilty on six counts of deprivation of parental rights related to the disappearance of her daughters, Samantha and Gianna Rucki. The sisters ran from their home on April 19, 2013 during a custody and divorce proceeding involving their parents.
Grazzini-Rucki will now remain in jail at the Ramsey County Correctional Facility in St. Paul until October 24, 2016.
Starting in 2017, Grazzini-Rucki will serve 15 days in jail on November 18 for the next six years – the anniversary of the day her daughters were found, for her involvement in the disappearance of her two daughters for over two years. Grazzini-Rucki must also serve 12 days of Sentencing of Service for the next six years.
Grazzini-Rucki will also pay $10,000 to the Minnesota Crime Victim’s Reparations Board. She must also pay two fines of $944, which represents the 944 days her daughters were missing.
The girls’ father, David Rucki was awarded full custody of all five of his children in November 2013, while two of his daughters remained missing.
On November 18, 2015 – 944 days after they disappeared – the girls were found living on a ranch in northern Minnesota by law enforcement, headed by the Lakeville Police Department. Rucki was reunited with his daughters days after they were found and they live with him at the family’s home in Lakeville.
In an interview tonight, David Rucki said he “applauded the sentence,” adding that Judge Asphaug “has a done wonderful job.”
Additional criminal trials scheduled
Three additional people have been criminally charged with felonies related to the disappearance of the girls: Dede (Deirdre) Evavold, Douglas Dahlen and his wife, Gina Dahlen.
Evavold was found guilty last week on six counts of deprivation of parental rights. Evavold is currently in jail until her sentencing hearing on November 10, 2016.
A criminal trial for the Dahlens, who own the ranch where the girls were found, has been scheduled for January 23, 2017.