Arkansas Couple Pleads Guilty in Baby Sale Attempt

A couple from Arkansas has admitted to trying to sell their baby boy for $1,000 and a six-pack of beer at a campground.

Darien Urban, 22, and Charlene Ehlers, 21, reached separate plea agreements on December 22. The father was sentenced to imprisonment, while the mother received probation, as noted in Benton County court filings.

The couple was arrested in September 2024 based on a tip suggesting they had completed a custody transfer form. Reportedly, a man was present at the campground when the incident occurred.

Court records revealed that a witness provided authorities with a signed document stating: “I, Darien Urban and Charlene Ehlers, [Cody Martin], on September 21, 2024, we gave away our baby for $1,000.”

This contract included a clause in which both parties agreed to refrain from future contact.

A witness alerting the police used a phone from Beaver Lake Hide-A-Way Campground, located a few miles from the Oklahoma border, according to reports from the court.

Initially, the couple faced charges for endangering a minor’s welfare and attempting to accept payment for abandonment. Urban pleaded guilty to one count of seeking adoption compensation, with prosecutors dropping an endangerment charge against him.

The judge accepted Urban’s plea, sentencing him to three years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, with an additional three years suspended.

Ehlers pleaded guilty to both charges of seeking compensation and endangering a minor’s welfare. Nevertheless, Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Cullen chose to defer these charges in a plea agreement, placing her on six years of state-supervised probation, according to court records.