By JUAN A. LOZANO
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) - A federal judge has sentenced a Brazilian couple to minimal prison sentences for helping their daughter kidnap their grandson, who has been living in Brazil for the last five years after being taken from Texas.

Carlos Guimaraes was sentenced to three months in prison while his wife Jemima received a one-month term during a court hearing Wednesday in Houston federal court.

The couple told the judge they believed they did nothing wrong and were only supporting their daughter because they believed she was a victim of domestic abuse.

They were arrested in February after flying to Miami. A jury in May convicted them of kidnapping but acquitted them of a related conspiracy charge.

The daughter Marcelle Guimaraes, who violated a custody order in a divorce case, is a fugitive and remains in Brazil with her 9-year-old son, Nico.

The boy's father is American and lives in Houston.

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