JULIA RAKOCZY (Hoax Mom-Bonnie Sweeten) - 9 yo - Philadelphia PA

PHILADELPHIA —
Police have issued an Amber Alert for a 9-year-old girl who they
believe is may be in the trunk of a sport utility vehicle with her
mother after being carjacked in suburban Philadelphia.
The carjacking happened Tuesday afternoon following an accident in Upper Southampton Township, Bucks County.
A 38-year-old Feasterville woman, Bonnie Sweeten, called 911 later
Tuesday afternoon and said she was the victim of that carjacking.
Sweeten told a dispatcher that she and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia
Rakoczy, were in the trunk of a Cadillac. That call was traced to a
cell phone tower in downtown Philadelphia.
Authorities are looking for Sweeten's gold or silver GMC Yukon Denali, which has
Pennsylvania license plate GYK-8998. They're also looking for a black
1990s Cadillac.

Pa. man appeals for release of ex-wife, daughter
The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA
- The ex-husband of a woman who made a cell phone call reporting that
she and her young daughter were being abducted following a car accident
is pleading for their release.A weeping Tony Rakoczy said in an
interview Wednesday on NBC's "Today" show, "There's no reason why they
would keep them. We don't have money."Investigators say
38-year-old Bonnie Sweeten of Feasterville made cell phone calls
Tuesday afternoon telling a 911 dispatcher she and her 9-year-old
daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were abducted by two black men after her SUV
was rear-ended in suburban Philadelphia.FBI spokesman J.J.
Klaver says police found Sweeten's SUV early Wednesday in Philadelphia,
near the cell phone tower that picked up her calls.Authorities are still searching for the other vehicle.

SUV of missing mother and daughter found
By Robert Moran

Inquirer Staff Writer



Police have found the SUV of a woman who called 911 saying she was in the
trunk of a car and that she and her 9-year-old daughter had been
abducted following an accident yesterday in Bucks County.
But Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter Julia Rakoczy remain missing.
A police officer found Sweeten's Yukon Denali was found about 1:30
a.m. today at 15th and Chestnut Streets in Center City, two blocks from
the cell phone tower that picked up Sweeten's calls. police said. A
parking ticket was on the windshield.
Police also impounded a black Cadillac in Hunting Park with damage
to its front end, but the FBI indicated this morning that it was not
linked to the case.
Investigators are examining Sweeten's SUV for possible clues.
"There are a lot of leads we are following," Special Agent J.J. Klaver, an FBI spokesman, said this morning.
Earlier, police activated an Amber Alert for the child.
Sweeten, 38, called police from the trunk of the dark-colored 1990s
Cadillac shortly before 2 p.m. to report she had been abducted along
with her daughter by two unknown black males, Klaver said yesterday.
Sweeten told a 911 operator that her daughter was still in her
family vehicle, a silver 2005 GMC Yukon Denali with Pennsylvania
license GYK-8998, Klaver said.
When local police arrived at the accident scene, both vehicles were gone, Klaver said.
Philadelphia police got the 911 call, which was received through a
cell-phone tower at 12th and Walnut Streets in Center City, Klaver said.
WPVI-TV (Ch. 6) reported this morning that Sweeten made seven calls to 911.
The mother and daughter were taken after they were involved in a
minor accident with the Cadillac on Street Road in Upper Southampton
Township, about a mile north of the city, Klaver said.
Julia was described in the Amber Alert as 4 feet, 1 inch tall, 59
pounds, with long brown hair, blue eyes, and a dime-sized birthmark on
her forehead. Her mother was described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 130
pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information about the kidnapping was urged to call 911.
Julia attends Belmont Hills Elementary School in Bensalem. A parent
of another child there said that Sweeten had been very active at the
school. The parent, who asked not to be identified, said news of the
kidnapping broke before a student performance at the school last night.
"The word spread quickly and no one knew what to say," the parent
said. "Everyone is shocked. We just pray they come back home safely and
we can see them once again in the school she so generously shares her
time with."
Sweeten is married with three daughters, according to her Facebook
page. She listed herself as a 1989 Bensalem High School graduate. Court
records show that she and Julia's father divorced in May, 2003.
Paige Alexandra, 15, wrote on her Facebook page: "im asking everyone, to please pray for my mom and sister pray please."

Dad appeals for release of daughter, ex-wife
By Larry King and Robert Moran

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS

The ex-husband of a missing Bucks County mother appealed this morning
for the return of her and their 9-year-old daughter, whose
disappearance is being treated as an abduction.FBI
Special Agent J.J. Klaver at the same time said, without elaboration,
that investigators are following a number of leads in the hunt for
Bonnie Sweeten and her daughter Julia Rakoczy.Anthony Racoczy said that he and Bonnie Sweeten had since maintained a
good relationship since they divorced in 2003, and that he knew no
reason for anyone to harm her or their daughter."I'm still in shock," he said on NBC's Today show. "She's a great mother."Earlier this morning, Philadelphia police located Sweeten's SUV in Center City.The discovery came nearly 12 hours after Sweeten called 911 saying she
was in the trunk of a car and that she and and Julia had been abducted
after an accident in Upper Southampton, Bucks County.Her daughter, she said was still in the family's Yukon Denali.A police officer spotted the SUV about 1:30 a.m. today at 15th and
Chestnut Streets in Center City, two blocks from the cell phone tower
that picked up Sweeten's call, police said. A parking ticket was on the
windshied.Earlier, an Amber Alert was activated for the child.When Sweeten, 38, called police shortly before 2 p.m. yesterday, she
said she was in the trunk of a dark-colored 1990s Cadillac. She said
she and her daughter had been abducted by two black males, Klaver, the
FBI spokesman, said yesterday.Sweeten told a 911 operator that her daughter was still in her family vehicle.The mother reported she and daughter were taken after they were
involved in a minor accident with the Cadillac on Street Road in Upper
Southampton Township, about a mile north of the city, Klaver said.Police impounded a black Cadillac with front end damage in Hunting Park
last night, but the FBI indicated it was not linked to the
investigation.Julia is described in the Amber Alert as 4 feet, 1 inch tall, 59
pounds, with long brown hair, blue eyes, and a dime-sized birthmark on
her forehead."She loves the Phillies. She plays softball. She always dances around the house," her father said. Her mother is described as 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 130 pounds, with blond hair and blue eyes.Anyone with information about the case was urged to call 911.Anthony Rakoczy and Sweeten were divorced in Bucks County Court in May
2003. Online court records indicate no ongoing disputes or court
actions since the decree was granted.This morning, Rakoczy said that when he was told of the 911 call, "I
was thinking that this is not real, that this is stuff you see on TV."
He described Sweeten as very organized, on top of her children's many
activities, and as someone with no known enemies."I don't understand why anyone would want to keep them," he said. "Just let them go."Sweeten has since remarried to Richard Sweeten, who operates a
landscaping service. According to her Facebook page, she has three
daughters, and is a 1989 graduate of Bensalem High School." Her older daughter, Paige, 15, wrote on her Facebook page: "im asking
everyone, to please pray for my mom and sister pray please."Julia attends Belmont Hills Elementary School in Bensalem. A parent of
another child there said that Sweeten had been very active at the
school. The parent, who asked not to be identified, said news of the
kidnapping broke before a student performance at the school last night."The word spread quickly and no one knew what to say," the parent said.
"Everyone is shocked. We just pray they come back home safely and we
can see them once again in the school she so generously shares her time
with."

The search continued on Wednesday for a Bucks
County woman and her daughter who were allegedly abducted on Tuesday
afternoon following a rear-end crash at one of the busiest
intersections in the county, even as police attempted to unravel
apparent inconsistencies in the case.
FBI agents and Bucks County detectives were going over Bonnie
Sweeten's silver SUV, found abandoned Wednesday morning in center city
Philadelphia. Authorities say there is no sign of the 38-year-old
woman or her nine-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy of Feasterville.
Investigators say the pair were allegedly kidnappped by two men
after their vehicle was rear-ended by another along Street Road, near
Second Street Pike.
Police say the woman used her cell phone to make a 911 call and told
Philadelphia dispatchers on Tuesday afternoon that she was trapped in
the trunk of a black Cadillac and her daughter was still in the SUV.

FBI agent JJ Klaver:
"We don't know where they are. I mean, that's why we're looking for
any public assistance, anybody who might have any information that's
relevant to this."
The fender-bender happened a little before 2pm on Tuesday, at Street Road and Second Street Pike in Upper Southampton Township.
Klaver says Sweeten called 911 and told dispatchers she was calling
from the trunk of a black Cadillac, where she was huddled with her
daughter, Julia Rakoczy (above). Sweeten said that two men had forced
her and her daughter into the trunk after their sedan had rear-ended
her SUV.
Sweeten's cell phone signal was lost in the area of the 200 block of
South 12th Street in center city Philadelphia -- more than 20 miles
away from the scene of the reported accident.

Klaver admits there are many unanswered questions:
"We're less concerned now with the inconsistencies than with finding
them and returning them safely to their families. That's our number one
goal."

An "Amber Alert" was activated for Rakoczy, and Klaver says interviews about the case were underway:
"We've been in contact with a lot of people. I believe that she's
estranged from her husband, so we are talking to a lot of different
people to try and get as much information as we can about where she and
her daughter may be."
Police found Sweeten's 2005 GMC Yukon Denali about 1:30am Wednesda
morning in the 1500 block of Chestnut Street, in center city.

Authorities on Wednesday morning were hoping they might be able to
locate a building in the 1500 block of Chestnut Street with a security
camera that might have captured images of the vehicle being parked.

Police found a black Cadallac on Tuesday with front-end damage, but it
was not immediately clear if the car was the '90s-model black
Cadillac involved in the initial accident.

A missing Pennsylvania woman's story
about being abducted with her daughter appeared to be unraveling
Wednesday evening, as several news organizations reported that police
had taken the woman into custody.
The reports said a surveillance camera had captured Bonnie Sweeten, 38, and
her 9-year-old Julia Rakoczy boarding a plane to Florida on Tuesday
shortly after Sweeten's frantic 911 calls.
And ABC News cited law enforcement sources who said Sweeten apparently had
faked the abduction and taken Julia to Disney World in Orlando, where
she booked a hotel room under a fake name. The investigation also
uncovered that Sweeten allegedy was involved in stealing about $300,000
from her former employer, an attorney in suburban Philadelphia, the
network reported.
The pair are expected to be returned to Philadelphia as early as Thursday, ABC reported.
A security camera reportedly showed Sweeten and Rakoczy at Philadelphia
International Airport, just hours after Sweeten made at least two 911
calls by cell phone saying she was locked in the trunk of a
dark-colored 1990s Cadillac.Detectives and reporters had been puzzled by
holes in Sweeten's story, and FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed
earlier Wednesday the existence of "inconsistencies" in her account of
the accident and abduction. But he declined at the time to elaborate
and said those aren't the focus of the investigation.
"We're not concerned about any inconsistencies," he told FOX News. "Our main concern is finding that young girl and her mother."
Sweeten had told emergency dispatchers that she and her daughter were snatched
in the middle of the day Tuesday by two men who rear-ended her SUV in
suburban Philadelphia, according to police.
"Based on what she says, they supposedly took her car and she was put in
another car, but right now that's all we have to go on," said
Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore, who heard the tapes. "It
definitely sounds like she's afraid. ... But it's hard to tell what's
going on."Though Sweeten, of Feasterville, Pa., implied her daughter was with her, the girl is not heard on the tapes, Vanore said.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no evidence of the crash
and the FBI and local police found no witnesses who saw the accident
that the missing mother described.
And although Sweeten said the accident took place in Upper Southampton
Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Klaver said authorities discovered
her 2005 GMC Denali SUV on Wednesday in Center City, 40 minutes away,
along with a parking ticket that indicates it was there about 20
minutes after she dialed 911.
The 911 calls were traced to downtown Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the
site of the reported fender-bender and abduction. One was picked up by
a cell tower only two blocks from where Sweeten's car was found.
Tony Rakoczy, Sweeten's ex-husband and Julia's father, said the sequence of events doesn't add up.
"I don't think it makes any sense, the timeline and everything else," Rakoczy told FOX News on Wednesday.
Police were still searching for the Cadillac reported to have bumped Sweeten's
vehicle. On Tuesday night, a black Cadillac with damage to the front
end was impounded, according to the Inquirer, but police said it didn't
appear to be connected to the case.
The Denali was towed to police in Upper Southampton, where police planned
to get a search warrant to inspect it. Detective Craig Rudisill
declined to comment on any visible damage.
Julia attended elementary school in Bensalem until she was withdrawn from
classes May 1, said Susan Harder, an administrative assistant with the
Bensalem Township School District.
Tony Rakoczy said there is no significance to the fact that she was pulled
out of her school earlier this month, saying she was immediately placed
in a different school.
"Hyping that up isn't helping," Rakoczy told FOX News. He didn't elaborate on why his missing daughter switched schools.

Pennsylvania Mother in Custody on Evidence She Faked Abduction With Daughter


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

A missing Pennsylvania woman's story about being abducted with her daughter unraveled Wednesday evening when a prosecutor announced that she had been taken into custody at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Fla.
Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said 38-year-old Bonnie Sweeten of Feasterville was taken into custody in Florida Friday night. Henry said Sweeten's 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, was with her.
Henry said Sweeten used a co-worker's driver's license and presented it as her own when she bought an airline ticket and flew to Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday. She also used the license to check into the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney World.
Click here for photos.
The girl's father, Tony Rakoczy, will pick her up, Henry said.
A security camera reportedly showed Sweeten and Rakoczy at Philadelphia International Airport, just hours after Sweeten made at least two 911 calls by cell phone saying she was locked in the trunk of a dark-colored 1990s Cadillac.
"It's a terrifying thing for a local community to hear that allegedly two black men in a Cadillac took a woman and her daughter," Henry told reporters at a press conference Wednesday night.
"The fact that she would accuse anybody of doing something ... was a total fabrication on her part," Henry said.
The case was cracked because a combination of factors didn't add up, she said.
Investigators uncovered that Sweeten allegedly was involved in stealing about $300,000 from her former employer, an attorney in suburban Philadelphia, ABC reported.
Detectives and reporters had been puzzled by holes in Sweeten's story, and FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed earlier Wednesday the existence of "inconsistencies" in her account of the accident and abduction. But he declined at the time to elaborate and said those aren't the focus of the investigation.
"We're not concerned about any inconsistencies," he told FOX News. "Our main concern is finding that young girl and her mother."
Sweeten had told emergency dispatchers that she and her daughter were snatched in the middle of the day Tuesday by two men who rear-ended her SUV in suburban Philadelphia, according to police.
"Based on what she says, they supposedly took her car and she was put in another car, but right now that's all we have to go on," said Philadelphia Police Lt. Frank Vanore, who heard the tapes. "It definitely sounds like she's afraid. ... But it's hard to tell what's going on."
Though Sweeten, of Feasterville, Pa., implied her daughter was with her, the girl is not heard on the tapes, Vanore said.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no evidence of the crash and the FBI and local police found no witnesses who saw the accident that the missing mother described.
And although Sweeten said the accident took place in Upper Southampton Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Klaver said authorities discovered her 2005 GMC Denali SUV on Wednesday in Center City, 40 minutes away, along with a parking ticket that indicates it was there about 20 minutes after she dialed 911.
The 911 calls were traced to downtown Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the site of the reported fender-bender and abduction. One was picked up by a cell tower only two blocks from where Sweeten's car was found.
Tony Rakoczy, Sweeten's ex-husband and Julia's father, said the sequence of events doesn't add up.
"I don't think it makes any sense, the timeline and everything else," Rakoczy told FOX News on Wednesday.
Police were still searching for the Cadillac reported to have bumped Sweeten's vehicle. On Tuesday night, a black Cadillac with damage to the front end was impounded, according to the Inquirer, but police said it didn't appear to be connected to the case.
The Denali was towed to police in Upper Southampton, where police planned to get a search warrant to inspect it. Detective Craig Rudisill declined to comment on any visible damage.
Julia attended elementary school in Bensalem until she was withdrawn from classes May 1, said Susan Harder, an administrative assistant with the Bensalem Township School District.
Tony Rakoczy said there is no significance to the fact that she was pulled out of her school earlier this month, saying she was immediately placed in a different school.
"Hyping that up isn't helping," Rakoczy told FOX News. He didn't elaborate on why his missing daughter switched schools.
Sweeten has two other daughters, an 8-month-old with her current husband and a 15-year-old from a previous marriage.
Sweeten's oldest daughter Paige wrote on Facebook, "I'm asking everyone, to please pray for my mom and sister."
An Amber Alert was issued for Julia, who is described as 4 feet, 1 inch tall, weighing 59 pounds, with long, brown hair, blue eyes and a birthmark on her forehead.
Sweeten is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds and has blond hair and blue eyes.
Julia's father told the Inquirer that his little girl plays softball and "loves the Phillies."



/**/

What the hell is wrong with these women??????????

A Pennsylvania mom found at Walt
Disney World after claiming she and her 9-year-old daughter were
abducted by two men and stuffed into a car trunk, allegedly conned a
co-worker out of her identification to use in the hoax.
Bonnie Sweeten used a co-worker's driver's license and presented it as her own
when she bought an airline ticket and flew to Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday,
Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said, adding Sweeten also
used the license to check into the Grand Floridian Hotel at Disney
World.
Jillian Jenkinson said Thursday on CBS' "The Early Show" that Bonnie Sweeten's request to use her
identification to fix a discrepancy on her 401(k) "seemed innocent."
She said she had worked with Sweeten for nine years, but didn't specify
where they had worked. She described Sweeten as a good mother who was
always on top of things.
"I think whatever's going on in her life is a way bigger issue than my ID," Jenkinson said. "I hope that she's OK." Sweeten and her daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were taken into custody Wednesday night at their hotel in Orlando, Henry said.Sweeten is expected to be extradited from
Florida Thursday and charged with making false reports and identity
theft, authorities said.
Anthony Rakoczy, the girl's father and Sweeten's ex-husband, was expected to pick up Julia in Florida.
"We are taking steps to have her extradited back here to Bucks County to
face criminal charges," Henry said Thursday. "The important thing is
we're in the process of reuniting the 9-year-old daughter with her
biological father and bringing her back safely."
Rakoczy was tight-lipped about his ex-wife's actions, only saying that he was
exhausted from the events, MyFOXOrlando.com reported.
"I'm just done, and I got to get out of here," the station reported him saying.
A security camera reportedly showed Sweeten and Julia Rakoczy at
Philadelphia International Airport, just hours after Sweeten made at
least two 911 calls by cell phone saying she was locked in the trunk of
a dark-colored 1990s Cadillac.They had minimal luggage and the hotel was
paid through Friday, Henry said. Sweeten had withdrawn about $12,000
from several bank accounts over recent days, but authorities were
investigating whether that money had been stolen.
The day she left, Sweeten withdrew $7,000, prosecutors said Thursday.
ABC reported investigators uncovered that Sweeten allegedly was involved in
stealing about $300,000 from her former employer, an attorney in
suburban Philadelphia.
Sweeten is listedas the director of The Carlitz Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based charity
run by lawyer Debbie Carlitz, MyFOXPhilly.com reported.
The charity raises money for autism research and people in Burma, according to the station.
Detectives and reporters had been puzzled by holes in Sweeten's story, and FBI
spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed earlier Wednesday the existence of
"inconsistencies" in her account of the accident and abduction. But he
declined at the time to elaborate and said those aren't the focus of
the investigation.
Sweeten had told emergency dispatchers that she and her daughter were snatched in the
middle of the day Tuesday by two men who rear-ended her SUV in suburban
Philadelphia, according to police.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no evidence of the crash
and the FBI and local police found no witnesses who saw the accident
that the missing mother described.
And although Sweeten said the accident took place in Upper Southampton
Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Klaver said authorities discovered
her 2005 GMC Denali SUV on Wednesday in Center City, 40 minutes away,
along with a parking ticket that indicates it was there about 20
minutes after she dialed 911.
The 911 calls were traced to downtown Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the
site of the reported fender-bender and abduction. One was picked up by
a cell tower only two blocks from where Sweeten's car was found.

A Pennsylvania mother found at Walt
Disney World after claiming she and her 9-year-old daughter were
abducted by two men and stuffed into a car trunk waived her right to
extradition Friday and will now head home to face charges.
Bonnie Sweeten, 38, appeared in an Orlando, Fla., courtroom Friday for a
hearing that lasted less than a minute. Detectives from Bucks County,
Pa., were in Orlando to bring her back, and a judge told Sweeten she
would be returned soon.
The ruse began to unravel shortly after Sweeten phoned 911 on Tuesday afternoon and told
them she and her 9-year-old daughter had been carjacked and stuffed in
the trunk of a dark Cadillac in Upper Southampton Township.
The call touched off a frantic search for the pair that ended 30 hours
later when police handcuffed Sweeten as she and the child returned to
their hotel at the amusement park Wednesday night.Police say she drained several bank accounts
and took a co-worker's driver's license before boarding a flight to
Orlando. Sweeten has been charged with filing a false report and
identity theft.
The missing girl, Julia Rakoczy, was reunited with her father at an Orlando police station on
Thursday afternoon, authorities said. She flew back to Philadelphia
with her father, and police escorted them off the plane.
"The daughter was very concerned for her mother," said Jim Solomons, a
spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. "To see any one of
your parents arrested and taken to jail and then you're put in
protective custody ... that's a terrible situation for anyone, much
less a kid."Sweeten fled as she was being
investigated for theft from a relative and perhaps others, authorities
said. No charges had been filed in that probe.
She worked for 15 years for Debbie Carlitz, a lawyer in suburban
Philadelphia whose law license has been inactive or suspended in recent
years, according to state documents. Sweeten is listed as a director at
a foundation Carlitz runs, The Carlitz Foundation, which according to
its Web site raises money for autism research and for people in Burma.The charity is not registered in Pennsylvania or listed in Guidestar, a national database of IRS-recognized charities.
Carlitz, reached by phone Thursday morning, said she was not sure whether any money was missing from her coffers.
"I can't (tell you) right now," she said. "I need to gather the information myself."
The Bucks County Courier Times, citing police, said the embezzlement may
total several hundred thousand dollars. Bucks County District Attorney
Michelle Henry did not return messages for comment Thursday.
Sweeten lived with her husband, landscaper Richard L. "Larry" Sweeten, in a
$425,000 house in a new development in bucolic Bucks County. She also
has a 15-year-old daughter by ex-husband Anthony Rakoczy, who lives
nearby, and an 8-month-old girl with Sweeten.
Larry Sweeten told Philadelphia television station WPVI-TV on Thursday that he has not spoken to his wife since her arrest.
"They said I wouldn't be able to talk to her until she gets back to Pennsylvania," he said.
In an appearance on the Today show, Sweeten said he was struggling to sort
out the rumors of theft and marriage problems surrounding her
disappearance.
"I want to know more than anybody," he said.
Sweeten added that following a seemingly festive family Memorial Day Weekend,
he finds it hard to believe the two have extremely serious domestic
problems, though "we argue, like everybody else does."
He said his wife handled family finances, and after reports of
investigations into her past financial dealings, "Hopefully this week
I'll be looking into my bank accounts."
According to the police complaint, Bonnie Sweeten withdrew more than $12,000 from several bank accounts in the past week.
She then went to the home of former co-worker Jillian Jenkinson on Tuesday
afternoon and said she needed to make a copy of her driver's license to
roll over her 401(k) retirement account, the papers said. Sweeten then
took her friend's license to the airport, where she paid cash to book a
flight in Jenkinson's name.
She also booked the motel room under that name and paid for it through Friday, the FBI said.
Police staked out the Disney complex after learning of the alleged identity
switch and confirming through airport security video that mother and
daughter had boarded the Orlando flight. Concerned about the girl's
safety, they waited at the hotel for them to return Wednesday night.
"We didn't know this woman's state of mind," said agent J.J. Klaver, the FBI spokesman in Philadelphia.
Henry, without giving specifics, suggested Sweeten was suffering from domestic and financial concerns.
"I think if you look at the evidence, it appears she was very calculated
in this plan," Henry told FOX News. "This didn't happen in a second. It
was very well thought out."
Anthony Rakoczy thinks his ex-wife got in over her head and "lost it a little bit."
"I've known this woman for a long time," he said Thursday on ABC's "Good
Morning America." "She's always been very together, tons of friends.
Everybody loves her."
Detectives and reporters had been puzzled by holes in Sweeten's story, and FBI
spokesman J.J. Klaver confirmed earlier Wednesday the existence of
"inconsistencies" in her account of the accident and abduction. But he
declined at the time to elaborate and said those aren't the focus of
the investigation.
Sweeten had told emergency dispatchers that she and her daughter were snatched in the
middle of the day Tuesday by two men who rear-ended her SUV in suburban
Philadelphia, according to police.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found no evidence of the crash
and the FBI and local police found no witnesses who saw the accident
that the missing mother described.
And although Sweeten said the accident took place in Upper Southampton
Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Klaver said authorities discovered
her 2005 GMC Denali SUV on Wednesday in Center City, 40 minutes away,
along with a parking ticket that indicates it was there about 20
minutes after she dialed 911.
The 911 calls were traced to downtown Philadelphia, about 20 miles from the
site of the reported fender-bender and abduction. One was picked up by
a cell tower only two blocks from where Sweeten's car was found.

Bail set at $1 million for Sweeten
By Mari A. Schaefer, Allison Steele and Larry King

Inquirer Staff Writers
A Bucks County judge set bail at $1 million late last night for Bonnie
Sweeten, the Feasterville woman who drew national attention this week
with a fake claim that she and her 9-year-old daughter had been
kidnapped when instead, she had fled to Walt Disney World.
As TV news helicopters circled above, a tearful Sweeten arrived in
the backseat of a patrol car and was led to District Court in Richboro.
About a dozen supporters, including her current and former husbands,
shouted, "We love you, Bonnie," and "Bonnie, we are here."
Shortly after Sweeten entered the courthouse, her 15-year-old
daughter, Paige, posted a message on Facebook from her mobile phone:
"welcome back to philly, mommy we love you so much and i miss you, cant
wait too see your face, hopefully soon."
Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry told District Judge
William J. Benz that Sweeten, a mother of three, was a flight risk.
"Her intent was not to come back to the area," Henry said of Sweeten's aborted trip to Florida.
In asking for high bail, Henry also alluded to an ongoing
investigation, presumably into the theft allegations swirling around
Sweeten.
Sweeten's lawyer, Louis R. Busico, argued that she was not a flight
risk, that she faced only two misdemeanors, and that the results of the
investigations should not factor into the bail determination.
Sweeten pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges: making a false report to police and identity theft.
Her family and supporters must come up with 10 percent of the bail
if Sweeten is to be set free. In the meantime, she was taken to the
Bucks County Prison for processing.
The judge also ordered her to be supervised by an adult when she is able to visit her three daughters.
Outside the courtroom, Busico said, "I expect them to work very diligently to make bail."
Earlier, while waiting for his client to arrive, Busico told reporters, "She is going nowhere and she is not a danger.
"She wasn't running. It's not a crime to take your kid to Disney World."
Sweeten set off a law enforcement and media frenzy Tuesday afternoon
when she called 911 to say that she and her daughter had been kidnapped
and put into the trunk of a Cadillac by two black men during a
carjacking in Upper Southampton. Her claim eventually triggered a
regional Amber Alert for the missing child and resulted in a hunt led
by the FBI in Pennsylvania and in Florida.
The search ended Wednesday night when the FBI found mother and child in an expensive hotel at Disney World.
FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said yesterday that with Sweeten's
discovery and arrest in Florida, the bureau had no further involvement
in the case.
Last night's arraignment came at the end of a long day that began
with a 9 a.m. hearing in Florida, at the Orange County jail's booking
and receiving center, where she waived extradition.
Looking drawn and worried, dressed in a dark-blue jail uniform with
her hair loose around her shoulders, Sweeten bit her lips during the
brief appearance and said nothing other than "yes" to Ninth Judicial
Circuit Court Senior Judge Charles Prather's questions. She also
thanked the judge at the end of the hearing.
During the 35 hours or so Sweeten spent in jail, she made seven
phone calls, according to the jail log, mostly to her husband, Richard
L. Sweeten Jr., and all during a short period on Thursday night.
None of the calls was completed. In some instances, the collect
charge was not accepted. On several other calls, Sweeten apparently
hung up before they were answered.
Reporters also waited outside the Sweeten home in the Saxon Meadow
development in Feasterville, and the nearby home of her ex-husband,
Anthony Rakoczy. No one was available to comment at either home.
Busico said Sweeten's daughters were staying with their respective
fathers. The two oldest, Paige and Julia, the 9-year-old, are from her
marriage to Rakoczy. Her youngest, 8-month-old Faith, is the child of
her current marriage.
Law enforcement officials have said that Sweeten, who, according to
a police affidavit, withdrew $12,200 from accounts at two Wachovia Bank
branches in Bucks County in the days before her false 911 report, may
have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The alleged thefts may have involved clients of the law firm where she worked, family members, or both.
According to a police detective with knowledge of the investigation,
one or more of the accounts were in the names of Sweeten's parents.
Henry said a decision on filing felony theft charges was not imminent.
She said that the investigation into possible theft charges "will
take some time," and that there certainly would be no charges brought
immediately.
"You're talking about going through a lot of financial records," she said.
She would not comment on whether investigators were focused on
thefts from current or former family members, or clients of the law
firm where Sweeten worked.
Sweeten, a paralegal married to a state Department of Transportation
worker who runs a landscaping service on the side, appeared to be
living beyond her means.
The couple took out a 30-year, $403,729 mortgage in 2006 to buy their four-bedroom, two-bath house.
The GMC Yukon Denali she allegedly ditched in Center City en route to Florida would have cost around $50,000 new.
Police investigators have also told reporters that Sweeten had been
spending tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments.
Sweeten had worked for many years for suspended personal-injury
lawyer Debbie A. Carlitz, who has accused Sweeten of stealing from her
law firm.
The firm closed last year after Carlitz's license to practice law
was suspended for one year and one day for practicing law while
ineligible to do so, having failed to keep up with continuing
legal-education requirements.
A lawyer for Carlitz has said that the district attorney's probe
also was looking into Sweeten's conduct with the Carlitz Foundation,
formed in October to support children's charities. Lawyer Ellen C.
Brotman has described Carlitz as "shocked and devastated" by Sweeten's
alleged actions.

Further posts on this case have been moved to FOUND CHILDREN

Thanks!

PHILADELPHIA — A
Pennsylvania woman accused in an abduction hoax that ended in Florida
and involved her 9-year-old daughter is staying with relatives
following her release from a county prison, her lawyer said.
Bonnie Sweeten, 38, must be supervised when she visits her children as a
condition of her bail, attorney Louis R. Busico said in Sunday's
editions of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Bucks County Courier
Times. She has two other daughters, ages 15 years and 8 months.
Sweeten was released from the Bucks County Correctional Facility in suburban
Philadelphia on Saturday after posting $100,000 in cash, or 10 percent
of her $1 million bail.Sweeten will stay with
"distant relatives" outside the county, and she also will start
receiving mental-health treatment next week, Busico said.
She was returned to Pennsylvania from Florida on Friday and has been
charged with identity theft and false reporting. A court hearing is
scheduled for Thursday, Busico said.
Authorities say Sweeten phoned 911 on Tuesday from downtown Philadelphia and told
dispatchers that she and her daughter had been carjacked and stuffed in
the trunk of a Cadillac near their suburban home, prompting a frantic
search that ended 30 hours later at a Walt Disney World hotel.Local police also are
investigating whether Sweeten stole money from a family member or
others, but no related charges have been filed.
Her daughter, Julia Rakoczy, was reunited with her father, Anthony Rakoczy, in Florida on Thursday.

Bonnie Sweeten, the Bucks County mother whose bizarre, racially
tinged abduction hoax drew national attention, is headed for divorce
court.
Her husband, Richard L. "Larry" Sweeten, calling the marriage
"irretrievably broken," has filed for divorce and for custody of the
couple's 11-month-old daughter.
Bonnie Sweeten, 38, of Feasterville, is awaiting trial on charges of
identity theft and filing false reports in the May 26 abduction hoax.
She had been scheduled for a formal arraignment tomorrow in Doylestown,
but on Monday her attorney waived her right to the hearing and entered
a plea of not guilty to the charges.
In a frantic-sounding 911 call, Sweeten had claimed that she and
Julia Rakoczy, her 9-year-old daughter from her first marriage, had
been carjacked and abducted on a busy thoroughfare in Lower Bucks
County shortly before 2 p.m. She claimed that two black men had rammed
the rear of her vehicle and forced her and Julia into their Cadillac,
saying she was calling from the trunk of the car.
Instead, police say, Sweeten had used a former co-worker's drivers
license to purchase airline tickets and had flown that afternoon to
Walt Disney World. She was apprehended there the next day, but not
before authorities, fearing for the child's safety, had issued an Amber
Alert that became national tabloid fodder.
Larry Sweeten's divorce complaint, filed late yesterday afternoon in
Bucks County Court, makes little mention of the incident. But it does
cite her arrest and her potential flight risk as grounds for limiting
her contact with their baby to supervised visits.
Bonnie Sweeten, whose attorney has said is undergoing mental health
counseling, remains free on 10 percent of $1 million bail. She has
three daughters from two marriages, and a condition of her bail is that
she have no unsupervised contact with any of them.

FBI and Lower Southampton police searched the Lower Southampton home
of "hoax mom" Bonnie Sweeten Friday afternoon, but an FBI spokesman at
the scene declined to discuss why they were there.Law
enforcement authorities spent roughly two hours at the Saxon Drive
home, FBI spokesman J.J. Klaver said, while Bonnie remained inside and
her estranged husband, Richard "Larry" Sweeten, paced on the sidewalk
outside the home. Klaver said he couldn't discuss what
authorities were looking for at the home or if the search was related
to the elaborate kidnapping hoax Bonnie Sweeten is accused of
concocting.Earlier on Friday, Sweeten, 38, who had fled to
Disney World with her 9-year-old daughter after saying she was
kidnapped, waived her formal arrangement on charges of false reports
and identity theft. She is scheduled to stand trial in Bucks County
Aug. 24.District Attorney Michelle Henry said detectives still
are investigating Sweeten's alleged involvement in thousands of dollars
of missing funds linked to the office of lawyer Debbie Carlitz,
Sweeten's former boss.Henry declined to discuss that part of the
case Friday. Carlitz, whose Pennsylvania law license is suspended, is
scheduled to appear before the state Supreme Court's lawyer
disciplinary board Aug. 6, sources said.Sweeten didn't attend
the arraignment hearing. Her lawyer, Louis Busico, said it's too early
to discuss what his client's defense will be at trial. He said Sweeten
was cooperative with federal agents as they searched the home, provided
investigators with everything they were seeking and voluntarily handed
over additional records. He declined to specify the nature of those
records.While authorities searched the home, Larry Sweeten, 33,
remained outside. He claimed he didn't know what was happening or what
authorities were looking for.
"I guess the rumors are true," he said, declining further comment.This has been an eventful week for Sweeten.On Thursday, she learned that her husband filed for divorce and custody of
their 11-month-old daughter. Sweeten's two other children are from a
previous marriage.The filing reportedly came as a surprise to Sweeten, who learned about it after reporters called her lawyer's office.Sweeten
was arrested May 27 in Orlando, Fla., almost 30 hours after she touched
off a nationwide search with a phony 911 call. Prosecutors allege that
she tried to cover up the trip by calling 911 to report that she and
her daughter had been carjacked and kidnapped by two black men on
Street Road.An Amber Alert was issued and police conducted an
intense manhunt in Bucks and Philadelphia. It later came out that
Sweeten had used a coworker's driver's license without permission to
buy her airplane ticket and get through airline security, prosecutors
said.Through Busico, Sweeten denied the charges. It remains
unclear what her involvement is with the money allegedly missing from
Carlitz's office. Sweeten worked as a paralegal and office manager at
the Feasterville law firm for 15 years and was heavily involved with a
charitable group Carlitz founded to raise money for autism awareness
and Burmese refugees, sources said.On the day she was arrested, Sweeten bounced a $285,000 check.Sweeten remains free on bail. Busico said she's receiving counseling.

Victor Biondino was no tycoon, just smart with money.
He toiled in a Bucks County steel mill, reared four children in a
Levittown rancher, and lived frugally on his wife's pay as a
meatwrapper. By saving and investing, he managed to retire with a tidy
nest egg.
Biondino was 92 and struggling with dementia when nearly $300,000 of
those savings were stolen, relatives say, by a trusted former in-law.
Her name: Bonnie Sweeten. Sweeten, 38, of Feasterville, drew national attention May 26 by faking
her own abduction and vanishing with her 9-year-old daughter in tow.
After an intense police dragnet and tearful appeals by loved ones on
network news shows, the two turned up in a luxe resort at Walt Disney
World in Florida.
Sweeten was charged with identity theft and false reports. She is
scheduled for trial Thursday on the misdemeanor charges in Bucks County
Court.
At the time, police and relatives said they did not know why the paralegal and mother of three had fled.
But Victor Biondino's loved ones had a strong hunch.
They and police had known for months, they now say, that Sweeten had
swiped $280,000 from Biondino's Vanguard money-market retirement fund
in December.
The relatives had demanded the cash back, threatening arrest. After
months of excuses, they say, Sweeten wrote them a $285,000 check and
bolted the day it bounced.
For the first time, Biondino's relatives are speaking publicly, frustrated that his money remains missing.
Backed by copies of checks, forged documents, and e-mails from Sweeten,
they described events that preceded the abduction hoax and prompted a
federal investigation into fraud and massive thefts.
"It is heartbreaking to me that a person I loved would do all of this,"
said Theresa MacCord, 61, of Trevose, a daughter with whom Biondino has
lived since 2007.
Bonnie Sweeten, after all, was still considered family.
Where did the money go? Sweeten is MacCord's former daughter-in-law - married for 10 years to Anthony Rakoczy, MacCord's son, until their 2003 divorce.
Despite the breakup, Sweeten had remained on good terms with her former
in-laws. Good enough, they allege, for her to have covertly latched
onto Biondino's blank Vanguard checks, possibly while house-sitting
last fall.
Sweeten, they say, forged a $280,000 check from Biondino's retirement
fund, then deposited the money on Dec. 29 into the trust account of
attorney Debbie Carlitz, her longtime employer.
Carlitz had closed her Feasterville law office four months earlier, having been suspended from practicing in Pennsylvania.
When confronted, Sweeten admitted taking Biondino's money, his relatives said.
At first she claimed that she and Carlitz had been arrested and needed
cash for bail. When that proved to be a lie, Sweeten said Biondino's
money went to cover checks she wrote to law-firm clients who were owed
civil damages in a sexual-assault case.
"She said the funds were distributed to clients of Debbie's whose money
supposedly had been stolen," said Michelle McGovern, 38, of Newtown
Square, Biondino's granddaughter.
Sweeten cast Carlitz as the thief, McGovern and MacCord said.
Carlitz, in turn, has accused Sweeten of stealing from her.
Neither has been charged with defrauding clients. But federal officials
are pursuing what appears to be a complex probe involving allegations
of forgery and thefts of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The investigation "involves many financial transactions which occurred
at the Carlitz law office," said Sweeten's lawyer, Louis Busico, who
declined to discuss specifics, including the allegations made by
Biondino's family.
"Ms. Carlitz is a victim," said her attorney, Ellen C. Brotman,
describing her as "shocked and devastated" by the actions of Sweeten,
whom Carlitz saw as a close friend.
Carlitz "is doing her best to cooperate with the investigation, and to
make sure any victims are identified and appropriately assisted,"
Brotman said.
Among the suspected forgeries is a bogus judge's order in a New Jersey
case handled by Carlitz's firm, sources have told The Inquirer.
Also, Brotman has asked authorities to probe a $100,000 mortgage taken
out in Carlitz's name in 2006 on her law office. Carlitz says her
signature was forged on the documents - which list Sweeten's home as
the billing address - and that she knew nothing of the loan until
recently.
On Monday, a former client sued Carlitz in Bucks County Court, claiming
her office stole his $100,000 settlement check from an auto accident.
The man claims his signature was forged on the check before it was
cashed last fall.
Federal authorities executed a search warrant at Sweeten's home on July
24, toting off boxes of undisclosed materials. And FBI agents have
collected samples of Biondino's signature to analyze, MacCord and
McGovern said.
The full scope of the probe, and where such hefty sums might have gone, has not been revealed.
"The part of this puzzle that I don't think anyone has figured out yet is: Where did this money go?" Busico said.
Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry has said the U.S.
Attorney's Office in Philadelphia is spearheading the inquiry. Federal
officials refused to confirm or deny the investigation, citing Justice
Department policy.
And while Victor Biondino might not be the only victim, his losses could be among the steepest.
"If that money is not recovered," said his son, Patrick Biondino, 55,
of Costa Mesa, Calif., "there is no way he will have the quality of
life he should have."

A long delay Quality of life is what two Bucks County mothers had in mind for their children when they hired Debbie Carlitz in 2003.
That year, Carlitz filed a lawsuit on their behalf in Ocean County,
N.J. It sought damages from a man imprisoned for sexually assaulting
the women's young daughters and another child at his Shore condo.
The families landed a sizable payout, ultimately at Victor Biondino's
expense. Biondino's money appears to have covered two long-delayed
checks that Sweeten wrote to the women Dec. 26 from the Carlitz firm's
trust account.
The names of the victims and their mothers are not being published because of the nature of the crimes.
Their civil case ended on Oct. 16, 2007, when Ocean County Superior
Court Judge Thomas O'Brien ordered the assailant's assets divided among
the three victims. Each was to get $165,485.92, minus legal fees and
costs.
After legal fees and costs, Carlitz's clients were to receive
$117,537.27 each.The money soon was sent to the Carlitz firm, court
officials said. But for 14 months, the families said, they received
nothing.
During that span, Pennsylvania disciplinary officials were in the
process of suspending Carlitz's state law license for practicing
without proper credentials.
"Bonnie told us that she would be handling our case," said one of the mothers, who lives near Doylestown.
By September 2008, the anxious women began calling Sweeten about the long delay.
"She said there was some kind of holdup because they had lost some pieces of paper," said the Doylestown-area mother.
Allegedly missing, the mother said, were consent forms signed by the
girls' fathers. But Ocean County records show the forms have been there
since the fall of 2007.
Finally, as Christmas drew near, Sweeten called the mothers. Their money was ready.
At a Dec. 26 meeting, the women said, Sweeten wrote each of them a
check for $115,344.88 from the Carlitz trust account. In interviews,
both identified photocopies of the checks obtained by The Inquirer.
Neither knew that Sweeten had used Biondino's money to cover their checks.
And writing the checks directly to the mothers might have violated a court order.
Judge O'Brien had specified that the funds be placed into guardianships
overseen by the Ocean County Surrogate's Office. The Carlitz firm
failed to do so.
"By not depositing the money with the surrogate, they not only violated
the judge's order, but they also violated the law," said Lewis April, a
veteran Atlantic City lawyer who represented the third victim in the
civil suit.
That was Carlitz's responsibility, April said: "She is on the hook for that."
But Carlitz, her lawyer said, never was told by Sweeten that the checks had arrived.
"We now believe that while Ms. Carlitz was waiting for the checks to
arrive, they were stolen by her assistant," Brotman said. As office
manager, Sweeten was allowed limited access to the firm's accounts,
including the ability to make deposits and certain payments, she said.
Both mothers said they deposited the checks from Sweeten into
interest-bearing bank accounts for their daughters, both of whom turn
18 this year.
Investigators have been probing a suspicious order, purportedly signed
by Judge O'Brien, that authorizes withdrawals from one of those bank
accounts.
A source familiar with the order said the bank ran a copy of it past
O'Brien's office to confirm its validity and was told it was a fake.
The document misstated the judge's title, and his signature was forged,
the source said.
O'Brien, citing "pending issues," was unable to comment, his secretary said.
The mother whose account was named in the order confirmed that
detectives had questioned her about it, but declined to elaborate.
The woman, who lives near New Hope, added that the check Sweeten wrote
her in December had bounced. Not until several days passed did it
clear, she said - as did the second mother's check.
Apparently, Victor Biondino's retirement money, needed to cover the
payouts, had not been available yet when the first check hit.
According to a copy obtained by The Inquirer, the $280,000 check forged
from Biondino's account was dated Dec. 26 - the day Sweeten met with
the mothers.
But that sum was not deposited into the Carlitz account until Dec. 29, three days later.
Patrick Biondino said he sympathizes with the girls who were sexually
assaulted but is angry that his father's money went to them.
Sweeten, he said, "stole from an old man to pay these girls."

Signs of trouble

A native of Ossining, N.Y., Victor Biondino came to Philadelphia in the 1940s.

There he married and worked as a crane operator, his son Patrick said, first on the shipping docks, then at the Budd Co.

Biondino moved on to the U.S. Steel plant in Fairless Hills, Bucks
County. In 1953, he and his wife, Margaret, built a one-bathroom
Levittown rancher for themselves and their four small children.

"He was a worker," Patrick Biondino said. "His goal, I think, was to
show my mother a nice retirement so that she didn't have to worry."

Biondino took any available overtime, his son said. When the unions
went on strike, Margaret pitched in by working as a meatwrapper at a
Pantry Pride supermarket.

When Victor Biondino discovered that the family could scrape by on his
wife's pay, he began investing his own earnings. By the late 1970s, he
and Margaret bought a home in Port Richey, Fla., and retired there.

After Margaret died in 2001, Biondino moved to a retirement village
south of Ocala. But by 2007 his mind was fading, and his children
insisted he move in with - and have his finances managed by -MacCord,
his eldest child and only daughter.

"He is very healthy," Patrick Biondino said. "But he has dementia."

As Victor Biondino settled in at MacCord's split-level house on Oak Avenue, Bonnie Sweeten was a frequent visitor there.

She had grown up a few blocks away. In 1992, she had married Rakoczy - MacCord's son. They had two daughters before divorcing.

She remarried in 2005, to Richard L. "Larry" Sweeten. They bought a
$425,000 house less than a mile away and, last August, had a daughter
via in vitro treatments.

She remained cordial with Rakoczy and close to MacCord. The children were a common bond, but MacCord saw Sweeten as a friend.

"We had a close relationship," she said. "We would go out to dinner, we would go to the holiday open houses."

So it raised no eyebrows last fall when Sweeten offered to watch the
house for MacCord. The family was flying to California for Patrick
Biondino's Sept. 6 wedding.

MacCord gave Sweeten a key, never thinking about Biondino's blank checks and statements inside.

On Dec. 2 came the first sign of trouble. MacCord was viewing
Biondino's Vanguard account online and found three $10,000 deductions.

Each was a check cashed by Sweeten, made out to her and signed by Biondino.

MacCord called Sweeten, demanding an explanation. Sweeten claimed that
Biondino had written the checks as gifts to her and his
great-granddaughters, she said.

But Sweeten later repaid the money, MacCord said.

On Jan. 9 came a seismic jolt. While reviewing Biondino's account, MacCord discovered $280,000 missing.

"She called me in a panic," McGovern recalled. "I knew it had to be Bonnie."

MacCord agreed, and said she contacted Vanguard's fraud division that night. "I knew it couldn't be anyone else," she said.

Incensed, McGovern pushed her mother to call the police. "I wanted [Sweeten] arrested from minute one," McGovern said.

MacCord said Vanguard sent her fraud-reporting forms and urged her to file a police report.

But she held off. MacCord hated the thought of traumatizing her granddaughters by having their mother arrested.

First she wanted an explanation.

Excuses, lies

The next day, Jan. 10, MacCord said she called Sweeten, who, she said, admitted taking the money.

"She said she had been waiting to tell me that she had written this big
check," MacCord said. "That's where the whole story about this fake
assignment of bail came in."

Sweeten claimed to have been arrested, along with Carlitz, on felony
theft charges. She told MacCord she had used Biondino's money to post
their bail.

A Jan. 12 e-mail to MacCord from Sweeten's AOL account pledges a
refinancing of her home to help repay Biondino. "[I]t may get me $160k
- $190k in equity if I am lucky," the e-mail said.

To bolster her tale, MacCord and McGovern said, she fabricated documents and gave them to MacCord.

One was a signed letter, dated Jan. 13, that appeared to be from Jeffrey R. Solar, a lawyer in Feasterville.

The letter, addressed to Sweeten, said that Solar was awaiting
information from police about the charges. It said that $283,000 in
bail money would "be released to your Mother-In-Law, Theresa MacCord .
. . upon final disposition" of the case.

Along with the letter, Sweeten gave MacCord three county bail
documents, dated Dec. 26, stating that $283,000 was being held for
MacCord until the criminal case concluded.

Solar had been Sweeten's lawyer in a 2007 civil suit over alleged
defects in her new home. He had represented Carlitz in part of her
state disciplinary proceedings. Sweeten had used his office for her
Dec. 26 meeting with the Bucks County mothers, the women said.

But Sweeten's documents were fake. Michelle McGovern called Solar
directly, and said he disavowed the letter or knowing of any criminal
proceedings against Sweeten.

"She basically just made up all of this crap," McGovern said.

Contacted last week, Solar confirmed MacCord's and McGovern's version, but declined to comment further.

MacCord demanded a face-to-face meeting with Sweeten. On Jan. 16, she
said, they met at Benny the Bum's, a restaurant on Bustleton Avenue in
Northeast Philadelphia.

"We sat down, and I told her, 'You'd better tell me the friggin'
truth,' " MacCord said. "That's when she blamed the whole thing on
Debbie."

Sweeten claimed Carlitz had threatened her, MacCord said. Sweeten told
her that $600,000 was missing from the firm's accounts, she said, and
that Carlitz was holding her responsible for half of it.

"She swore to me that she didn't steal a dime from the law practice,"
MacCord recalled. "She said Debbie had told her, 'Your name is on every
one of those accounts. You are just as responsible as I am.' "

Sweeten pledged that her parents would refinance their home in Delaware to help replenish Biondino's account.

MacCord was skeptical.

"If you didn't steal anything, you'd have to be crazy to go out and
steal from someone else," MacCord said. "I wasn't buying that story."

Still, MacCord saw it as her best shot at recovering the money.

"I knew that Bonnie was an only child, and that her parents would
probably do anything to keep her out of jail," MacCord said. "This was
probably the quickest and best way to get the money back - for them to
go out and get a mortgage."

MacCord said she spoke by phone with Sweeten's father. She said William Siner, 66, of Milton, Del., agreed to help.

The McGoverns, who had wanted Sweeten arrested, also received a
notarized fax, signed by Siner and sent from a bank office in Delaware.

"At this time I am scheduled to have my house appraised to acquire the
necessary funds to resolve the situation," the fax stated.

Vanguard, meanwhile, had contacted police, MacCord said, and Bucks
County detectives were soon on the case. By early March, MacCord said,
she had spoken to a county detective who asked her to keep him posted
but "wasn't pressing me" to prosecute.

Two more months passed. By May, Sweeten still hadn't delivered.

She had never refinanced her house. She had claimed, by late February,
that her father had secured a loan, but it kept being delayed.

All the while, Sweeten e-mailed updates to MacCord, McGovern, and her ex-husband, Rakoczy:

Feb. 24: "My dad said we should receive the committment paper and the closing date late today or tomorrow morning."

March 30: "I want this over so bad to. i deserve anything that happens to me as the result of this but the girls do not . . ."

April 13: "my dad left me a voicemail - settlement is friday 1:45pm"

But still no check.

"She knew how to play me," MacCord said. When pressed, Sweeten would
concoct a personal crisis - a medical condition involving her father; a
problem with her kids - that "would make me back off."

On April 30, MacCord and McGovern left with Biondino on a trip to
Italy, assured by Sweeten that a check would be waiting for them upon
their return on May 13.

And it was. But the check, for $285,000, was postdated to May 18.

When May 18 arrived, Sweeten e-mailed MacCord that "the funds have not
all cleared" in her account, and that MacCord should hold off on
depositing the check.

"I more or less felt at that point that I was in trouble," MacCord said.

Exasperated, McGovern gave her former sister-in-law an ultimatum.

"I finally told her, 'I'm giving you 48 hours. If that money is not back, I'm going to have you arrested,' " she said.

The next afternoon, May 19, Sweeten sent MacCord another e-mail. "I
just went online," it said, and "enough will be cleared so you can
deposit it into your acct."

On Thursday, May 21 - just before the three-day Memorial Day weekend - MacCord made the $285,000 deposit.

But on Tuesday, May 26 - the third business day after the deposit - the check bounced.

And Bonnie Sweeten was headed for Disney World.

A call to 911

For four days, police say, she had been gathering cash.

Beginning May 22, police say, Sweeten withdrew $12,200 from bank accounts belonging to her and undisclosed family members.

She then secured an alias.

On May 26, Sweeten borrowed the driver's license of a former coworker
at the Carlitz firm, pretending to need it to roll over the woman's
401(k) account, police said.

Her bizarre abduction hoax was about to begin.

At 1:45 p.m., Sweeten called a Philadelphia police 911 operator from her cell phone.

She told the operator that she and her daughter, 9-year-old Julia
Rakoczy, had been rear-ended and carjacked by two black men in a
Cadillac on busy Street Road. She said she was calling from inside the
trunk, court records say.

Sweeten then left a tearful voicemail on her husband's cell phone. She
repeated her story, adding that "if she didn't see him again, to tell
the children that she loved them," court records say.

MacCord said she knew nothing about Sweeten's disappearance until her
son Anthony Rakoczy - Julia's father and Sweeten's ex-husband - called
her.

" 'Did that check clear?' " she remembered Rakoczy asking. She told him it had not.

" 'Well,' " he continued, " 'here's what's going on . . . .' "

Hoax revealed

The hoax unraveled quickly enough, but not before alarming millions of people.

The evening she vanished, law enforcement officials issued an Amber
Alert that repeated Sweeten's abduction story on radio, TV, and
regional highway message boards.

The national media pounced. By the next morning, a tearful Anthony
Rakoczy appeared on NBC's Today show, pleading for the return of his
ex-wife and daughter.

In the interview with Today's Natalie Morales, Rakoczy said nothing of
the theft allegations, the bad check, or anything else that would cast
doubt on the abduction story.

"I'm still in shock," he said.

"If you could say something to the abductors, what is it you would like to tell them?" Morales asked.

"I would like to tell them to let them go," Rakoczy said, weeping. "I don't understand why they would want to keep them."

He knew better, MacCord said, but feared for his daughter.

"He was trying to do what he could to get Julia back," she said. "He
had an idea of what was going on, but this man was stressed. He was a
basket case."

Sweeten had earlier hinted at suicide, MacCord said, adding to the family's fears.

"You never know what might happen in a situation like this," she said.
"Right after this happened in January, she told me that she thought she
would be better off dead, and that we would all be better off without
her."

Even as the kidnapping tale went national, police were well en route to debunking it.

Within hours, police had traced Sweeten's 911 call to Center City, not lower Bucks County.

At 1:30 a.m., May 27, a Philadelphia police officer had found Sweeten's
SUV parked in the 1500 block of Chestnut Street. A parking ticket
showed it had been there since at least 2:24 p.m. the day before.

The FBI learned that the ID of Sweeten's coworker had been used to buy
two 4:15 p.m. flights to Orlando from Philadelphia International
Airport. Surveillance photos showed Sweeten and her daughter passing
through airport security.

By nightfall on May 27, police sources had assured MacCord and her
family that Sweeten and Julia were in Florida and would soon be in
custody.

The family waited for updates at the Upper Southampton police station with Sweeten's husband, Larry.

They told him none of the backstory, MacCord said, certain that he had not been involved in the thefts.

The following day, after Bonnie Sweeten's arrest, the rejected $285,000 check arrived in Larry Sweeten's mail.

"I was outside the next day when he came to my house with the bounced check," MacCord recalled.

"He said, 'Why didn't anyone tell me?' "

Laying the blame

Bonnie Sweeten's trial for identity theft and false reports is set for Thursday in Bucks County Court.

Where the larger investigation stands is anyone's guess.

Since her arrest, Sweeten has been free on 10 percent of $1 million
bail. She has undergone mental-health treatment, said her lawyer,
Busico. She is not allowed to be with her children unless another adult
is present.

"There was no legitimate purpose in concocting the hoax," Busico said.
"She was not in her right frame of mind. Her affliction amounted to
severe depression and a mental meltdown."

Her husband has filed for divorce. Their dream home in Feasterville is for sale, listed at $479,900.

Victor Biondino's relatives have hired a lawyer to recover his money.
But none of them has a clue - if, indeed, Sweeten did steal such large
sums from the law firm - where it all could have gone.

Her in vitro treatments had cost no more than $50,000, they say. No one knew her to have a substance-abuse or gambling problem.

Her parents had provided the down payment on her house, MacCord said. The mortgage is more than $400,000.

"I'm thinking: If you have all this money that you've taken, where is it?" MacCord said. "What has happened here?"

McGovern said that she believes Carlitz and the banks her firm used
bear some responsibility. Anyone reasonably monitoring those accounts
should have seen red flags, she said.

As for Victor Biondino, he remains in MacCord's home, shielded by his fading mind from the maelstrom surrounding his nest egg.

"My aim is to get my grandpop's money back," McGovern said. "And I'm looking for where to lay the blame."

The Lower Southampton mom, whose claim that two black men had
snatched her and her daughter off the street triggered an Amber Alert,
faces a judge today in Doylestown.

Bonnie Sweeten, the so-called “hoax mom” who is accused of faking
her own abduction before fleeing to Walt Disney World with her
9-year-old daughter in May, will plead guilty today before a Bucks
County judge in Doylestown
Sweeten’s attorney, Louis Busico, said his client wants to make amends.

“Bonnie Sweeten will admit her complicity to making false reports to
authorities,” Busico said. “She will also express heartfelt remorse to
her family members, those she injured by her actions and to the members
of law enforcement who treated her so professionally.”

Busico would not comment on the ongoing investigation into a
$285,000 check Sweeten allegedly bounced on the day she fled. Sources
say Sweeten is accused of stealing the money from an ex in-law.
District Attorney Michelle Henry also refused to discuss that part of
the case.

Sweeten, 38, of Lower Southampton, captured national attention May
26 when she called 911 to report that she and her daughter had been
carjacked by two black men. She pleaded for help, saying the men had
stuffed her into the trunk of their car.

An Amber Alert was issued, and police in Bucks and Philadelphia searched frantically for the mother and daughter.

Police say they soon learned that Sweeten had bought airline tickets
using the driver’s license of a former coworker, which she allegedly
borrowed under false pretenses. Sweeten was captured in Florida and
returned to Bucks County.

Sweeten is charged with identity theft and making false reports,
both misdemeanors. Since she has no prior record, a judge could give
her a sentence ranging from probation to a short prison stay. Henry
declined to say if she’ll argue that Sweeten deserves jail time.

Sweeten has been free on bail since her arrest and isn’t permitted
to be with her children unsupervised by another adult. Her husband,
Larry Sweeten, has filed for divorce.

Last month, state and federal agents searched Sweeten’s home.
Investigators have refused to comment, but carted off boxes of
documents.

Sweeten also has been linked to two recent lawsuits. One involves a
$100,000 mortgage on the property of her former boss, attorney Debbie
Carlitz, which bears Sweeten’s address. The other centers on a $100,000
car accident settlement check that a client claims Carlitz — or someone
in her office — forged his signature on.

Bonnie Sweeten pleaded guilty -- admitting she
concocted an elaborate abduction hoax in hopes of escaping a life
spinning out of control -- apologized to her family, daughter and the
African-American community.
To her family, Sweeten said she was sorry for the "hell I've put them
through," then to her 9-year-old daughter, she apologized for throwing
her into the national spotlight. Sweeten also apologized in court to
the entire community of African-Americans for "fueling an ugly myth and
stereotype."
The Feasterville mom called 9-1-1 back in May, saying two black men
carjacked her and her daughter and stuffed them in the trunk of a car.
That set of a nationwide Amber alert. What Sweeten had really done was
stole a friend's identity, bought two tickets to Orlando where she was
tracked down two days later in an upscale hotel at the Disney World
resort.
She pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of identity theft and making false reports to police.
Sweeten, who is also the focus of a federal investigation into stolen funds
that could total hundreds of thousands of dollars, said she ran off
because, "I let my life slip out of control." She said her world
"imploded on May 26 when I realized I could not repay the funds I
stole." She has been sentenced from nine to 24 months in prison.
The 38-year-old suburban mom has three daughters. Her second husband,
Richard, who said during the initial stages of the investigation, "we
can get through anything" has filed for divorce.

William Siner is accused of attacking television cameramen after his
daughter, Bonnie Sweeten, was sentenced to jail for a hoax 911
kidnapping call. William Siner walked out of a courtroom and into a huddle of reporters Thursday.This time, he didn't deck any of them.Siner
is the father of infamous "Hoax Mom" Bonnie Sweeten, who was sent to
Bucks County prison for making a bogus 911 call in which she claimed
two black men had abducted her and her 9-year-old daughter.Siner
was arraigned Thursday on assault charges that allege he attacked
members of the media at the Bucks County Courthouse following his
daughter's sentencing Aug. 27.The 66-year-old from Milton, Del.,
allegedly charged out of court and attacked three television cameramen,
injuring two, before security officers dragged him away last week.Doylestown
District Judge Philip J. Daly released Siner on Thursday on $4,000
unsecured bail, meaning he was set free without having to post any
money.If convicted, Siner will likely receive probation on three
counts of simple assault, all misdemeanors, and two counts of
disorderly conduct, said Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry."This attack was unprovoked," Henry said. "He went after three people who were just there trying to do their jobs."Wearing
a collared shirt and glasses, Siner quietly signed court papers
Thursday. Surrounded by reporters as he and his wife calmly got into
their car, Siner did not respond when asked if he was sorry about the
alleged assault.Henry said that Siner told authorities he was
stunned that his daughter was sentenced to nine to 24 months in prison.
Reeling from the shock, he raced out of the courtroom last week and
attacked three cameramen.Robert Mancini, Siner's attorney, said
his client was worn out by media crews allegedly hounding his family
during Sweeten's high profile trial, which made national headlines.Court papers state that Siner told a detective that he "just lost it" when he saw the bright lights and news media.That's no excuse as far as Henry is concerned. "This is completely unacceptable behavior," the district attorney said.Court
records state that a cameraman from CBS News suffered a neck injury and
lumbar strain after Siner bull-rushed the man, shoved his camera into
his head and knocked him into other people and benches. The alleged
victim missed work for at least a week, a criminal complaint said.An
NBC News cameraman sustained head and shoulder injuries when Siner
slammed him to the ground, authorities said. The man, who hit his head
and shoulders on benches, received medical attention and missed several
days of work.Siner gripped a Fox News cameraman in a bear hug
and struggled with him, but another Fox cameraman pulled Siner from his
colleague before the attacked journalist was injured, records said.Mancini,
Siner's attorney, said the Delaware resident lived most of his life in
the Bensalem area. Siner is a veteran of the Air Force who, for 28
years, worked in research and development at Warminster Naval Air
Warfare Center before retiring, his attorney said. He has been married
for 43 years, said Mancini. Sweeten pleaded guilty to making a
false report and identity theft, both misdemeanors. She admitted that
she made a fake 911 call in downtown Philadelphia, just before she and
her daughter headed to the airport to board a plane for Disney World.The call had law enforcement from at least five states looking for the purportedly kidnapped woman and her daughter."I
am struck by the selfishness of your act, what you put your family,
your children through," said Bucks County Judge Jeffrey Finley at
sentencing. "The horror they must have felt to think their mother and
sister were carjacked, and what might come. Only a person who is
thoroughly self-centered could have done that."The concocted
call and flight to Florida might have been motivated by the claim that
six months before the May 26 incident Sweeten allegedly stole $285,000
from the retirement fund of Victor Biondino, the 92-year-old
grandfather of her ex-husband, Anthony Rakoczy.Sweeten, of Lower Southampton has not been charged in connection with any missing money, but an investigation is ongoing.

The Bucks County mom who faked a carjacking and kidnapping will be
allowed to serve part of her sentence under house arrest.
However, she won't be home for Christmas.
A Bucks County judge granted her request for house arrest, but says she
can't get out of jail until she serves six months behind bars. That
means Sweeten will remain in prison until Februrary.
Bonnie Sweeten is currently serving a 9-23 month sentence for the crime.
She pleaded guilty in August.
In May, Sweeten called 911, reporting that she and her daughter had
been carjacked and kidnapped by two black men at the intersection of
Street Road and Central Avenue in Upper Southampton Township, Bucks
County. Prosecutors say she instead used a former co-worker's
driver's license to fly to Florida and check into a hotel at Walt
Disney World, where she and her daughter were found. After
considering the fact that Sweeten has apologized again and now takes
responsibility for her actions, and her participation in a number of
programs at the county jail, the judge told Sweeten she can leave jail
and go on house arrest on February 27th, six months into her sentence.
"Who wouldn't want to be home for Christmas?" said Sweeten's attorney,
Louis Busico. "But, in the real world, she could be incarcerated for
many more months. Now, that's not going to happen. Her Christmas came a
little early this year." "We're pleased that the judge denied
the petition for today and that she's going to remain incarcerated
through February and that she's going to have to serve six months in
jail. The judge understood the impact this has had on the community,"
said Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry. During the
hearing Sweeten told the judge that every time she hears of an Amber
Alert, she thinks about what she's done. She went on to say "I don't
know who I was that day. I'm guilty, and I can't begin to apologize."
Her lawyer says she's a changed woman. "I think you saw it today.
She's a woman who has a whole new perspective on life," said Busico.
When she is released Sweeten will have to wear an ankle bracelet and
will stay at the home of a friend in Trevose, far from the house she
shared with her estranged husband and three children. The couple is now
divorcing. Sweeten is also the focus of a federal theft
investigation. Authorities are looking into reports that she may have
stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from her own family and the law
firm where she worked. During a hearing in August, William Siner,
Bonnie Sweeten's father, came toward a group of photographers and
reporters shortly after she pleaded guilty and was sentenced.
At first he shoved one photographer, then turned on another, attacking
him. Another photographer came to his aid, and held him until officials
arrived. Siner was taken away.

Choking back tears as she talked about missing her children, a
contrite Bonnie Sweeten begged a Bucks County judge Wednesday to let
her out of jail in time for Christmas.


County Judge Jeffrey Finley agreed to covert the balance of
Sweeten’s 9-to-24 month sentence to house arrest, but not until Feb.
27, when she’s served six months.


“I sense a different attitude today,” Finley told Sweeten. “You
appear to have gotten some of the message. Maybe you’re beginning to
understand how horrific your actions were.”


While ruling may shorten the so-called “hoax mom’s” time behind
bars, it will not affect the ongoing federal investigation into charges
she stole thousands of dollars in an identity theft scheme.


Although she refused to elaborate to reporters, District Attorney
Michelle Henry shed some light on that probe when answering the judge’s
questions in court.


“It’s a very intricate investigation into business fraud,” Henry
told Finley. “With each new thing that’s uncovered, it leads to five
new things.”


Sweeten, 38, of Lower Southampton, was sentenced in August for
faking her own abduction and that of her 9-year-old daughter. She
created the ruse—which prompted an Amber Alert and an east coast
manhunt—to cover up the fact that she’d stolen more than $285,000 from
her ex-husband’s family.


Sweeten called 9-1-1 on May 26 and wailed into the phone that she
and her daughter had been carjacked by two black men. Instead, Sweeten
and the girl boarded a plane to Florida. Detectives found them at
Disneyworld.


It was that 9-1-1 tape, which was played at Sweeten’s sentencing
hearing, that convinced Finley to depart from state sentencing
guidelines and send her to the county jail. Since she had no prior
convictions and the crimes were both misdemeanors, Sweeten could have
gotten probation.


Sweeten’s attorney, Louis Busico, petitioned the judge this week to
reconsider the sentence, saying his client had become a model prisoner.


In court Wednesday, Sweeten ticked off the numerous self-help
programs she’s participate in since being incarcerated in August. She
said she mentors other prisoners, attends Bible study and works in the
prison laundry.

Most importantly, Sweeten told the judge, being separated from her three daughters has shown her how much she’s hurt others.
“I visit my kids through Plexiglass and I have to apologize,” she said.
Sweeten expressed remorse for the scam, saying she knows now how offensive her lies were.
“Every time there’s an Amber Alert I think about what I did. I don’t know who I was that day.”


Both Henry and prison officials opposed the house arrest motion,
saying Sweeten is a flight risk. Henry noted that Sweeten told police
that she planned to “disappear” after treating her daughter to a trip
to the Magic Kingdom.


Finley said he took into consideration the fact that Sweeten did not
flee when she was out on bail awaiting sentencing. He ruled that she
must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and be subject to random
phone calls from corrections officers while on house arrest.


Sweeten’s husband filed for divorce shortly after she was arrested.
She will live with a friend in Lower Southampton when she’s released.


Persons on house arrest are confined to their homes except to go to
work and doctor’s appointments. Sweeten did work as a legal assistant
to attorney Debbie Carlitz before her arrest, but Carlitz has been
disbarred and Sweeten’s financial dealings in that office are the main
focus of the federal probe, sources said.


Both Busico and Henry said they were pleased with the judge’s ruling.


Sweeten’s ex-husband, Anthony Rakoczy, and several friends were in
the courtroom to support her Wednesday. There was no sign of her
father, William Siner, who went on a rampage after she was sentenced in
August, attacking several television camermen.


Siner is scheduled for a court hearing on assault charges in January.

A suburban mother once arrested at Disney World after calling in a
hoax abduction of her daughter has been ordered held in a $700,000
federal fraud case.The FBI took custody of 39-year-old Bonnie
Sweeten early Friday from the Bucks County Prison after she served 10
months for the hoax kidnapping.A magistrate later appointed
Sweeten a public defender and ordered her held until a detention hearing
set for Wednesday.
Sweeten, a white mother of three, called 911 in May 2009 to say she
and her daughter had been carjacked and abducted near Philadelphia by
two black men.Instead, she fled to Florida amid a large-scale
swindling probe. The indictment says she stole money from an elderly
relative to repay funds diverted from her employer.

The Philadelphia area woman who authorities say stole more than
$700,000 and then fabricated a kidnapping by two black men was ordered
held without bail Thursday on federal charges.Bonnie Sweeten, 39,
finished her first prison stint last week on state charges related to
identity theft. She was rearrested by the FBI on June 26 following her
release from Bucks County, Pa., prison where she had served a 10 month
sentence.U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Caracappa said Sweeten's
involvement of her daughters in two schemes, combined with her record of
fleeing to Florida when her embezzlement was about to be discovered,
argued against letting her free on bail.
"Desperate and creative things follow when she is presented
with a desperate situation," said the judge. The use of "creative" was a
reference to what a federal prosecutor said is Sweeten's skill at
forging documents, including a passport and a letter purporting to show
she had passed the bar examination in New Jersey.Indeed, for
three years Sweeten was listed as an attorney in Bucks County legal
directory, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Wolf.Federal
public defender James McHugh argued that Sweeten had appeared for all
her previous state court appearances, but Caracappa said the federal
charges, and the potential that Sweeten will serve a lengthy jail
sentence if convicted, means "this is a new day.Wolf argued that
Sweeten had swindled or cheated virtually her entire family."There
is no family here today," at the bail hearing, she told the judge.
"They have all been duped by her."The mother-of-three faces a
trial on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, money
laundering, forgery, and identity theft.One of her teenage
daughters was used an intermediary to contact a male prisoner while
Sweeten was in the Bucks jail, the judge said, in violation of jail
rules.Sweeten once worked as a paralegal for a law firm, where
she is accused of pilfering a variety of accounts including money from
her employer and from her ex-husband's ailing grandfather.In
addition to the alleged theft, authorities say Sweeten used fake
identity documents to flee to Florida as law enforcement closed in.The
thefts occurred from November 2005 through May 2009, authorities say.
Sweeten became nationally known when she claimed that she and her
9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men. Her hoax
triggered an Amber Alert.Sweeten was arrested at Walt Disney
World, where she had flown with her child, authorities say, using a
stolen identity.Nevertheless, three friends of Sweeten's were
present in the courtroom, including one woman who McHugh said would let
Sweeten live in her home. Also, a business in Bucks was prepared to
offer her a job, said McHugh.

Bonnie Sweeten, the Bucks County woman who authorities say stole more
than $700,000 and then fabricated a kidnapping by two black men, was
back in court today trying to get released from jail while she awaits
trial.
Sweeten asked U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn Jr. to
overturn a lower court decision on June 30th ordering her held without
bail until her trial on multiple fraud charges.
Yohn may issue a decision this afternoon.
At the earlier hearing, U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Caracappa said
Sweeten's involvement of her daughters in two of her criminal schemes,
combined with her record of fleeing to Florida when her alleged
embezzlements were about to be discovered, argued against letting her
free on bail.
Today, defense attorney James McHugh argued that his client had a
place to live with a friend, but conceded that she had no money to put
up for bail to assure her appearance at trial. Sweeten's parents were in
court today.
McHugh said an offer of a job with a heating and air-conditioning
company fell through, and blamed federal agents, who, he said, told the
firm their business could suffer if clients learned Sweeten was an
employee.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Wolf said, "she poses a substantial
flight risk given her history of deceit and the gravity of the offenses
... as well as the substantial jail time she faces" if convicted.
Sweeten could face more than 10 years in prison.
Wolf argued that Sweeten had swindled or cheated virtually her entire
family. To aid her schemes she is accused of altering a passport,
assuming the identity of a former coworker and producing numerous
fraudulent documents.
The mother-of-three faces a trial on charges of wire fraud, mail
fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, forgery, and identity theft. The
thefts occurred from November 2005 through May 2009, authorities say.
At that time Sweeten worked as a paralegal for a Feasterville law
firm. She is accused of pilfering a variety of accounts including money
from her employer and from her ex-husband's ailing grandfather.
In addition to the alleged thefts, authorities say Sweeten used the
fake identity documents to flee to Florida as law enforcement closed in.
Sweeten became nationally known when she claimed that she and her
9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men. Her hoax
triggered an Amber Alert.
Sweeten was arrested at Walt Disney World, where she had flown with her child using a stolen identity.