(WXYZ) — A national adoption fraud scheme first exposed by the 7 Investigators is now the subject of an episode of “Feds” that premieres Wednesday on Investigation Discovery.
Watch Heather Catallo's video report:
Tara Lee’s victims told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo they hope that exposing what happened to them to a broader audience will help change the adoption laws.
Since 2018, the 7 Investigators have revealed every twist and turn of the high-profile case that started in Macomb County.
“Feds: We Sell Babies” features the Detroit-based federal agents and prosecutors who put the 44-year-old mother from New Haven behind bars.
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Woodward, FBI Special Agent Matthew Sluss, FBI Intelligence Analyst Nishawn Spiller, 7 Investigator Heather Catallo, and several of Lee’s victims participated in the Investigation Discovery production.
Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer is the Executive Producer of “Feds.”
Federal prosecutors say Lee left a trail of financial and emotional devastation across 24 states, taking in $2.1 million from 160 couples hoping to adopt.
As part of her guilty plea to wire fraud charges, Lee admitted that she made up fake birth mothers, told adoptive couples that babies had died when they never existed, and double or triple matched couples with the same birth moms.
When he sentenced her to 10 years in prison in 2020, U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman told Lee if he could, he would have given her a life sentence because of the trauma he said she caused.
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Lee spent about 6 years behind bars, but last February she was transferred from a federal prison in Alabama to community confinement in Michigan.
The families who say they were victimized by Lee tell us they know the judge went as far as he was legally allowed, but they don’t think Lee’s punishment was severe enough.
“I definitely feel that her time that she got is not equivalent to the pain that we went through,” said Teresa Matheny.
Even though it’s incredibly painful to keep agreeing to interviews, Matheny said it was important for them to participate in “Feds” because they want reforms.
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“We just want the legislative changes in the [adoption] industry,” said Matheny. “I definitely just want to make people aware of our story and how terrible this was for all of us. The families, the children, and how it affected everyone involved. And not just financially, but emotionally. There were so many families that went through horrible, terrible, terrible things.”
Since her guilty plea, Tara Lee has tried several times to get out of custody, at times telling the courts she was innocent and at other times acknowledging that her behavior was “egregious” and expressing remorse. Lee is due to be released from community confinement in the fall.
The “Feds” episode called “We Sell Babies” airs Wednesday 3/18/26 at 9 p.m. on Investigation Discovery, and it will also be streaming on HBO Max starting Thursday 3/19/26.
If you have a story for the Heather Catallo, please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com
