Plea deal being considered in sextuplets hoax

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Prosecutors said Wednesday they are working on a possible plea agreement with a couple accused of faking the birth of sextuplets to tap the generosity of neighbors.

Sarah and Kris Everson, of Grain Valley, appeared for just four minutes before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Bushur, asking to waive their preliminary hearing, but that request was denied. The preliminary hearing was delayed until July 26.

Assistant Jackson County prosecutor Tammy Dickinson said afterward that authorities were still seeking victims who fell for the couple's scheme to come forward but that a deal was being considered.

"We're working out the particulars of a possible plea agreement," she said.

Dickinson's boss, Jackson County prosecutor Mike Sanders, would not comment on a possible agreement but said authorities were seeking to satisfy the demands of the couple's victims.

"They want restitution not only to themselves but to the community," Sanders said. He said that payback could take the form of volunteer hours.

So far, prosecutors have only tallied about $3,500 in cash and gifts they say was given to the Eversons after the couple concocted a complex tale of their multiple births. They are both charged with theft.

The couple's defense attorney left court without speaking to reporters. The defendants said they were advised not to talk.

"We can't say anything," Sarah Everson said.

Community leaders in Grain Valley said Sarah, who is 45, and Kris, 34, came to them in March, saying they had delivered six critically ill babies and needed help. The couple claimed the births were being kept secret by a court order because a family member was out to kill them.

Within days of the story appearing on the front of the local paper here, The Examiner, the couple was barraged by questions from the media and ultimately admitted to reporters and police that the entire thing was a lie. They said they needed the cash.

If convicted on the charges they now face, the Eversons each face up to seven years in prison, though it's not unlikely they could avoid any time behind bars.