Couple receives maximum prison sentence in child neglect, human trafficking case

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - A couple found guilty of human trafficking and child neglect has received the maximum prison sentence.

“You brought these kids to West Virginia, a place as I know as almost heaven and put them in hell,” Circuit Court Judge MaryClaire Akers said. “The court will now put you in yours. May God have mercy on your souls, because this court will not.”

Jeanne Whitefeather was sentenced to 215 years while Donald Lantz was sentenced to 160 years in prison.

“I just want the court to know that I have made mistakes I am very sorry for that and I love my children and I have never, ever, done anything to my ... children to harm them intentionally,” Whitefeather said.

“Children, I do love you,” Lantz said.

“I felt happy that the system worked the way I know that it can,” Kanawha County Assistant Prosecutor Madison Tuck said. “The way I come to work everyday and try to participate in it made me hopeful for the children and for West Virginia. The state that I love.”

“I’m not surprised,” Defense Attorney Mark Plants said. “They spoke their hearts, even though a lot of people disagree with it. That’s their story, and that’s what they have told from day one.”

Whitefeather will be eligible for parole in 49 years. Lantz will be eligible for parole in 36 years.

The couple has been ordered to pay $280,000 in restitution apiece to the victims.

Those children -- also addressing the court through impact statements, with the eldest child calling Whitefeather and Lantz “monsters”, “abusers” and saying they were “tortured mentally.”

Another one of the children said, “I will be something amazing. I will be strong and beautiful. You will always be exactly what you are -- horrible.”

Even the youngest child wrote a letter that was read aloud, saying, “I was taught to laugh at my siblings, and told they were bad, I was kept from them -- watched a lot the stuff happen. Now, at my new home, I see that everything was not right with Jeanne and Donald.”

The case began after children were found in locked in a closed off area of a barn in Sissonville.

The children were discovered in October 2023 by Kanawha County Sheriff’s deputies, resulting in the arrests of both Lantz and Whitefeather.

Whitefeather was found guilty of all 19 counts she faced, including forced labor, civil rights violations, abuse and gross neglect.

Lantz was found guilty of 16 counts, including human trafficking, neglect and forced labor. He was found not guilty of four counts of civil rights violations.

Prosecutors say the children are excelling and moving on with their lives.

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