Woman trucker swapped two children in her care for a pet cockatoo and $175



A woman trucker who swapped two young children she was looking after for a cockatoo and $175 is to face trial.

Donna Greenwell offered the boy aged five and his four-year-old sister to Paul and Brandy Romero after they put their exotic bird up for sale.

The Louisiana couple wanted $1,500 for the cockatoo, but Greenwell contacted them and they agreed to take the children and $175 in cash.

Romero, 45, and his 28-year-old wife have pleaded guilty to two counts of sale of a minor child.

Just trying to help: Paul and Brandy Romero have pleaded guilty to swapping their pet cockatoo for two children

'They were unable to have children of their own. They were also unaware of the exact legal requirements for transferring custody of minor children,' said prosecutor Nicole Gil of the Evangeline Parish District Attorney's Office.

But their five-year prison sentences were suspended after they agreed to testify against Greenwell.

Greenwell is not the children's mother, but they were living with her with their birth parents' knowledge, prosecutors said.

'The Romeros maintain they were simply trying provide a home for two children that were unwanted,' Gil said.

The court heard that the Romeros were approached by Greenwell after they placed an advertisement to sell the cockatoo.

Donna Greenwell and a cockatoo like the one she swapped the two children for. The children are being looked after by a foster family and the bird by a vet



They said Greenwell, 53, told them she didn't have enough money to buy the exotic bird outright, but could give them the children if they also gave her the money to pay for the legal transfer of custody.

Greenwell's lawyer, Steve Sikich, said his client would plead not guilty to selling children. Her only crime, he said, was trying to find the best home for the children after they were abandoned into her care by their biological parents.



Timothy Fontenot, a court-appointed attorney who represented Greenwell early on, said that the Romeros gave the bird to Greenwell’s granddaughter and maintained that there was no swap involved.

Authorities said Greenwell was a cattle-hauling truck driver from Pitkin, in central Louisiana, with a criminal history dating back to the 1980s. She remains free on a $100,000 bond.