[Watch live on the Law&Crime Network in the player above. For a raw feed of the hearing, see the player below] In 1998, Gloria Williams posed as a nurse and stole a baby from a hospital, took her home, and raised her as her own child. The child, Alexis Manigo, didn’t know the truth until she was 18 years old, first meeting her biological family in 2017. Williams eventually pleaded guilty to felony charges of kidnapping and interference with custody. She will be sentenced Friday morning at approximately 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Watch live in the player above. Last month, the judge heard testimony in the sentencing hearing before taking several weeks to determine Williams’ sentence. At the hearing, Williams herself spoke, saying that she had been in a physically and verbally abuse relationship, and when she became pregnant, her boyfriend Charles Manigo was happy. She said Manigo hoped having a child would help with his own stability. Then Williams had a miscarriage, leading to her stealing a baby instead. “I don’t know. I just . . . I was thinking about . . . maybe this baby can help Charles,” she told the court. “I thought this would bring piece to the house; the abuse would stop; the violence would stop. It didn’t.” Williams eventually left Manigo because she didn’t want to endanger the child. Williams addressed the child’s birth parents, saying: I know I can’t give you back the 18 years. If I could, I would. If I could give you a new heart, Ms. Mobley, I would; if I could give you a new heart, Mr. Aiken, I would. It’s not in my power. I know you hate me right now. I know I’ve done something wrong. I hope one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I’ve done to y’all. Williams faces between zero and 22 years in prison. The mother, Kamiyah Mobley, said in a victim impact statement that if it were up to her, Williams would get the death penalty. Aaron Keller contributed to this report. Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<doc-sep>A woman who kidnapped and raised a newborn for 18 years will now be imprisoned for 18 years. A woman who kidnapped and raised a newborn for 18 years will now be imprisoned for 18 years. Gloria Williams was sentenced Friday in the kidnapping of Kamiyah Mobley. Williams showed little emotion during the announcement of the punishment that comes after the 52-year-old pleaded guilty in February and accepted a deal of 0 to 22 years in prison. 1. Gloria Williams received two sentences but the maximum time in prison remains the same. Judge Marianna Aho sentenced Williams to 18 years in state prison for kidnapping Kamiyah Mobley from a Jacksonville hospital in 1998. Williams was also sentenced to five years in prison on the lesser charge of interference with child custody. Both sentences will run concurrently at the same time so the maximum prison time remains 18 years. Williams gets a 511-day credit of time served since her arrest in January of 2017. 2. Williams' plea prohibits book or media deals. As part of Williams' plea deal, she's not allowed to profit from her crime. This, of course, does not restrict the victim or victim families from sharing their story in return for financial gain. It also does not prohibit Williams' family from being paid. The restriction expires once Williams is released from prison. Williams also waived her right to appeal the sentence. 3. Williams can contact Kamiyah Mobley as she pleases. In May, Kamiyah's mother Shanara Mobley testified as a state witness during Williams sentencing hearing. In addition to telling the judge she believed a death sentence was appropriate, she also asked for an order restricting Williams from contacting Kamiyah. On Friday, Assistant State Attorney Alan Mizrahi referenced the dynamic as the most challenging part of the case. "Many of our cases are very emotional but what made this so interesting is how long ago it was but how fresh it was for the victims to endure," Mizrahi said. "Finding their daughter, but finding that she had feelings for the perpetrator, that was very unique." 4. Kamiyah did not show though she did appear for the sentencing hearing. Kamiyah chose not to attend the sentence announcement of the woman who raised her. The 19-year-old sat through two days of Williams' sentencing hearing in May, however, she declined to testify. On Friday, Kamiyah's maternal great-grandmother Barbara Stewart said it's likely Kamiyah did not want to feel divided in the midst of this difficult outcome. 5. The sentence is tough but could have been tougher. Williams avoided the possibility of a life sentence if her case had gone before a jury. The plea deal she accepted came with a 22 year maximum for time in prison. Judge Aho selected a prison term four years less than the maximum but 18 years more than the minimum.<doc-sep>All that's left is for Circuit Judge Marianne Aho to pronounce the punishment she believes accords with the crime. Williams, who pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping and interference with custody, faces up to 22 years in prison as part of that plea deal. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Nearly 20 years after Kamiyah's Mobley's disappearance, Gloria Williams will be sentenced for Jacksonville's most notorious kidnapping. The decision begins at 10:30 a.m. Friday’s pronouncement of sentence will be brief; there are no more legal arguments to be made, no testimony pending. All that’s left is for Circuit Judge Marianne Aho to pronounce the punishment she believes accords with the crime. Williams, who pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping and interference with custody, faces up to 22 years in prison as part of that plea deal. The judge’s decision comes a month after the final sentence hearing. On May 4, at the end of two days of testimony, the judge said she wanted to take her time before she issued a sentence. “This is a very unusual case,” Aho said, “and I’m going to take my time considering everything that has been presented to the court to make sure that I am as thorough as possible.” The July 10, 1998 kidnapping rocked Jacksonville, and ultimately forced changes in hospital procedures around the country. But even after 19 years, the case of Baby Kamiyah continues to fascinate. The girl raised in South Carolina as Alexis Manigo appeared in March on a contentious episode of "Iyanla: Fix My Life,” a show on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network. Williams’ two-day sentence hearing was livestreamed on the Internet, and drew reporters from South Carolina and New York. A screenplay writer who is working on a Kamiyah Mobley story for the Lifetime Channel attends every hearing. It’s not clear if Judge Aho will hew to the highest penalty or show leniency in sentencing. Both of Williams’ sons and her husband pleaded for mercy, as did a tearful, repentant Williams. Prosecutor Alan Mizrahi said only the maximum would satisfy the horror Williams inflicted on Shanara Mobley, who was just 16 when her first child was stolen. (Mobley herself told the judge she thought death was the only appropriate punishment.) Court transcripts released this week include Mizrahi's reference to a 2010 case he thought relevant to this one. In March of that year,19-year-old Jasmine White posed as a social worker and stole a baby from a Westside home. A citywide manhunt turned up the child, unharmed, after only 13 hours. Still, Mizrahi noted, White was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Tellingly, Kamiyah declined to testify on Williams’ behalf. In lieu of testimony, Williams’ attorney entered into evidence a handful of interviews the teen has given reporters, including her interview with First Coast News. “Of course, I’m not going to say, ‘Throw her in jail and throw away the key, or throw her underneath the jail,’” she said at the time. “Of course, I don’t want to see so many years. But I understand a crime was done, you know? So, I understand some punishment has to be rendered.”<doc-sep>
The woman who pleaded guilty to kidnapping a baby from a Florida hospital hours after she was born was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison. Gloria Williams posed as a nurse and stole Kamiyah Mobley from a Jacksonville hospital in July 1998 before giving the child a different name, Alexis Manigo, and raising her as her own in South Carolina. Williams, who was arrested in 2017, entered guilty pleas to charges of felony kidnapping and interference earlier this year as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. At Friday's sentencing, Williams, 52, was given credit for her 511 days of time served. After the sentencing was announced, Mobley’s birth mother left the courtroom with a smile on her face. The sentencing "closes a painful chapter for all involved," Mobley's attorney, Justin Bamberg, said in a statement. "Kamiyah is now processing what it means for the woman she’s known as [her] mother to receive an 18-year prison sentence," he said. "However, she understands Gloria had to be held accountable for her actions. She also understands that her biological parents have the absolute right to view today as a joyous day. We can only ask that everyone respect her privacy, give her time to take things in, and continue to pray for the well-being of each and every person whose life has been touched by this almost 20-year chain of events." Williams declined to address the media but extends "her appreciation to everyone involved in her defense as well as all of the people who either wrote letters or appeared on her behalf," Williams' attorney, Diana Johnson, said in a statement. "Though the sentence imposed today was more than we had hoped for, we appreciate the time and attention Judge Aho took to fully consider this matter," Johnson added. Last month in court Williams apologized to Mobley's birth parents. "I know I wronged you and I’m so sorry," Williams said. "So many days ... I wanted to pick that child up and say, 'Let’s get in this car and go' -- I just couldn’t." ABC News' Doug Lantz, Julia Jacobo, Rachel Katz and Amanda Maile contributed to this report.