CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Diana Cojocari, the mother of missing girl Madalina Cojocari, is officially out of jail as of 1:32 p.m. Tuesday.
She was released a day after pleading guilty to failing to report her daughter's disappearance. Cojocari had previously pleaded not guilty. Her release was possible because the maximum prison sentence is 24 months, minus time already served; Cojocari had spent 520 days in jail after being arrested in December 2022.
The judge told Diana, who is not an American citizen, she was likely to be deported when she changed to this guilty plea.
"If it was a felony, then there's a decent chance that they might come after," David Concha, an immigration attorney, told WCNC Charlotte
The immigration attorneys, neither of whom are involved in this case, said with the backlogs in the immigration courts across the United States, deportation is not something that happens overnight.
"It depends on a case-by-case basis, but in general cases do take quite a while in immigration court," Concha said.
"We have wait times that we have seen years," Kenneth Pham, another immigration attorney, said.
Concha said even though each immigration case is different, the ultimate goal is to determine if a person should be removed.
"We have an immigration law called aggravated felonies, usually those are going to result in someone being eligible to be removed," Concha said.
He added that everyone has the right to defend themselves against allegations and can find ways to make it work in their favor.
"If you've been here more than 10 years, you might have a defense called 'cancellation of removal,' or they look at whether you have ever been the victim of a crime and helped in the prosecution of that crime."
The federal government has a different set of criteria and even if a person does time on the state level, they can still be removable on the federal level.
ICE released a statement saying they’re committed to enforcing immigration laws humanely and assessing whether an enforcement action is warranted.
As of now, it hasn’t been officially confirmed whether or not a removal proceeding has started for Diana.
Madalina Cojocari was last publicly seen in Cornelius, North Carolina on Nov. 21, 2022, at the age of 11. She was reported missing less than a month later when Diana Cojocari met with administrators at Bailey Middle School about Madalina's extended absence.
Cornelius is located about 24 miles north of Charlotte.
As Diana Cojocari left her time in jail Tuesday, the trial for her husband was set to begin roughly half an hour later. Christopher Palmiter, who is Madalina's stepfather, has pleaded not guilty to failing to report Madalina's disappearance.
Palmiter's court appearance would begin around 3:30 p.m. instead. His defense team argued that the evidence the prosecution is presenting isn't in full, but rather what prosecutors believe is relevant. They also wanted to make sure any conversations Diana Cojocari had about Madalina's whereabouts should be included.
However, prosecutors argued there are active investigations to find Madalina and don't want to jeopardize that. The judge sided with the prosecution and also denied a request from Palmiter's defense to continue the trial to another day. Palmiter eventually left the courtroom after pre-trial hearings concluded shortly after 5 p.m.
Jury selection in Palmiter's trial is set to begin Wednesday, May 22.
Recent court filings suggest new evidence related to Madalina's school records will be introduced in Palmiter's trial. Records also appear to show that an expert witness, a computer forensics expert with the Federal Bureau of Investigations, is set to testify.
WCNC Charlotte obtained a copy of an addendum to the "Renewed Motion to Compel Motion to Continue" filed by Palmiter's defense team. The document records over a dozen items seized by a search warrant that were not provided to the defense. This includes the results of the search and examination of Diana and Palmiter’s cars and GPS data, their phone records, jail calls and any investigative work done after Dec. 17, 2023.
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The court record also documents a seven-page summary of an interview with Diana's cousin, which the defense received on May 14, 2024. The interview was done by the FBI with the assistance of an FBI language specialist. The summary notes that Diana told her cousin she was in danger, not from Palmiter but from a third party, and that she and Madalina needed to get to a safe place. Diana told her cousin she needed help leaving Palmiter and that a medical excuse she gave Madalina's school to excuse her absence was expiring.
According to the interview summary, Diana's cousin had been in contact with her mother, "who apparently is engaged in a conspiracy with Diana to help Diana and Madalina flee the country."
Diana also told him that plans made with Palmiter to arrange for her and Madalina to stay with his family in Michigan fell through. The document notes that Diana's cousin asked her to call the police but she refused. Diana said she had enough funds to live off of for two to three months. It also notes that Diana was sending large sums of money out of the country.
On May 14, 2024, the state provided the defense with text messages and call logs from Diana's phone calls with her cousin which included extensive conversation around the timeframe that Madalina does not return to school.
The state notes that it does not believe that the summary was relevant nor does it serve to clear Palmiter from alleged fault or guilt. The defense argues that the state has not made important key evidence available.
According to the defense, "What the State feels is relevant to the narrow view they take of what they need to prove to prosecute a charge under N.C.G.S. §14-318.5 is not the determining factor of what may be relevant to presenting an adequate defense. The recent production of discovery highlights the need for complete discovery and time for the defense to review it and prepare for trial."
The state continually references that there was a prior hearing where the court made a ruling on additional discoverable evidence. During that hearing, the defense noted that the conversations involving Diana, her mother and cousin, as well as the plans for her to flee the country and Palmiter, weren't known. They don't believe the state intentionally withheld that evidence to not compromise the search and investigation into Madalina's disappearance.
"The defense fails to understand how providing the entire file could compromise information that is now a year-and-a-half stale."
The state argued that the information was not relevant to the crime charged. Palmiter's defense disagreed with that assessment.
"The defense needs to know whom Diana was in contact with, where and when she went and what contacts and calls she had in order to bolster Palmiter's defense regarding his reasonable belief," the document reads.
Meanwhile, Palmiter maintains he doesn't know where Madalina is.
Palmiter has been out of jail since he was released in August 2023 after his bond was lowered from $200,000 to $25,000. Diana Cojocari remained behind bars under a $250,000 bond.
If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of Madalina Cojocari, please contact the Cornelius Police Department at 704-892-7773. You may also contact your local FBI office, the nearest American Embassy or Consulate, or you can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.