An Arkansas couple has admitted to an outrageous scheme in which they attempted to sell their infant son to a stranger at a local campsite. The pair—Darien Urban, 22, and Shalene Ehlers, 21—agreed to a payment of $1,000 and a six‑pack of beer in exchange for handing over custody of their baby.
On December 22, the two men and women entered separate plea agreements. Urban will face a prison term while Ehlers will remain free, but only under strict state‑supervised probation, according to recent Benton County court filings.
The authorities first apprehended the couple in September 2024 after tips revealed that the parents had executed a written contract transferring parental rights to a man named Cody Martin at the Beaver Lake Hide‑Away Campground in Rogers, only a few miles east of the Oklahoma state line. Investigators and witnesses presented the document to confirm its authenticity.
The contract, which Urban and Ehlers signed in front of witnesses, read: “I, Darien Urban and Shalene Ehlers, are signing our rights over to [Cody Martin] of our baby for $1,000 on 9/21/24.” When the contract was executed, the parents added an extra clause: “After signing this there will be no changing y’all two’s minds to never contact again.”
One witness recalled dialing the police from the campground’s manager’s office to report the deal. In the initial charges, the couple faced counts of endangering a child’s welfare and attempting to accept compensation for relinquishing their child.
Urban pleaded guilty to the attempted acceptance of compensation for adoption; prosecutors subsequently dropped the charge of endangering the infant’s welfare. A judge approved his plea, sentencing him to three years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, with an additional three‑year sentence suspended.
Ehlers pleaded guilty on both counts—accepting compensation and endangering the child’s welfare. In her plea deal, Circuit Judge Brad Karren suspended the charges and ordered six years of state‑supervised probation.
The case underscores the serious legal consequences of exploiting vulnerable families, and the court’s willingness to hold both parties accountable in a manner that balances punitive measures with rehabilitation.
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