Bellingham Woman Sentenced to 10 Months in Federal Prison for Passport Fraud Scheme Used to Take Son to Panama

SEATTLE — A 32-year-old Bellingham, Washington, woman has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for making a false statement on a passport application as part of a scheme to take her 4-year-old son out of the United States and travel to Panama in violation of a final parenting plan.

Talisa Manuella Munoz was sentenced on August 31, 2026, in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

The case centered on false passport documentation, international travel, and the failure to return the child to his father as required by an existing custody arrangement.

According to court records, Munoz was required to return the child to his father on September 8, 2025, following a weekend visitation.

The child was not returned.

The father reported the situation to law enforcement, and the FBI opened an investigation.

Investigators later determined that Munoz had taken steps months earlier to obtain a passport for the child using false information.

According to records filed in the case, Munoz stated on the passport application that she had no way to locate or identify the child’s father.

She also submitted a birth certificate listing “none named” where the father’s name should have appeared.

Federal investigators concluded that the documentation was inaccurate and that Munoz had been planning with family members for months to take the child out of the country.

Munoz left Seattle for Panama on or about September 7, 2025, shortly before the date on which she was required to return the child to his father.

The investigation ultimately expanded into an international law-enforcement matter.

The Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the U.S. Embassy in Panama City worked with authorities in Panama to locate and arrest Munoz.

She was subsequently extradited to the United States and returned to the Western District of Washington on January 8, 2026.

Her son was later reunited with his father.

The federal case did not turn solely on the custody dispute itself.

Munoz was prosecuted for making a false statement in connection with the child’s passport application, which federal authorities said was used as part of the broader plan to remove the child from the United States.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge John H. Chun addressed the seriousness of the conduct and rejected the idea that a parent can disregard an existing legal process.

“This is something you just can’t do,” Chun said. “You can’t take the law into your own hands.”

The court also heard about the effect the incident had on the child’s father.

In information submitted to the probation office before sentencing, the father described the period during which his son was missing as the worst experience of his life.

The emotional impact of the case extended beyond the travel itself because the father did not know when, or whether, the child would be returned while the international search was underway.

Judge Chun scheduled a restitution hearing for November 2026 to determine how much Munoz will be required to repay the child’s father.

The restitution issue remains unresolved until that hearing.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced the sentence.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson prosecuted the case for the Western District of Washington.

Munoz has now been sentenced for the federal offense connected to the passport application, while the court will address restitution separately in November. Her son has been returned to his father.

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