BY JENNIFER BABSON

 KEY WEST -- Arletis Blanco, the woman who touched off a complicated custody dispute when she fled to Cuba last year with her young son, was sentenced to three years' probation Tuesday after pleading guilty in federal court to one count of international parental kidnapping.

 Blanco, 29, still faces state charges that include grand theft and forgery.

 At the time of the November 2000 incident, she shared custody of her son, Jonathon -- then a kindergarten student at Plantation Key School in Tavernier -- with her
 ex-husband, Jon Colombini, of Homestead.

 At the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Daniel and Blanco's attorney, Ellis Rubin, U.S. District Judge James Paine departed from sentencing guidelines that could have required Blanco to serve six to 12 months in prison.

 ``There's a lot of tragedy in this, probably more so than in cases the government usually gets involved with,'' Daniel said, arguing against federal jail time. ``This is one of those lucky cases in which the child was returned back to the United States. . . . It happened because she cooperated.''

 Influencing the government's position on the case, said Daniel, was an Oct. 4 agreement Blanco entered into with Colombini that currently gives him primary custody of Jonathon in South Florida and provides Blanco with visitation rights.

 Blanco said Tuesday that she never intended to prevent her ex-husband from having access to his son.