Jocelyn Kirsch in jail
Jocelyn S. Kirsch, the Bonnie half of the so-called Bonnie-and-Clyde couple accused of conspiring to scam friends, neighbors and co-workers of more than $116,000, is in federal custody.
Contact staff writer Emilie Lounsberry at 215-854-4828 or at elounsberry@phillynews.com.
Kirsch, 22, who has been under house arrest in Philadelphia, surrendered to the U.S. Marshal's Office at the federal courthouse shortly before 2 p.m. today -- one day before she was to turn herself in.
U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno signed an order directing her to voluntarily surrender by 2 p.m. tomorrow pending a trial or a guilty plea in the federal identity-fraud case.
"We know that there's a two-year mandatory minimum sentence, and at this point, given all the circumstances of the case, it didn't make any sense to stay out any longer," said Kirsch's attorney, Ronald Greenblatt.
Robreno's order, which was docketed this morning, said the detention was "upon agreement of the parties," meaning that prosecutors and Greenblatt had agreed to the move.
No reason was stated for the sudden move to detain Kirsch, whom prosecutors had sought to detain last month for stealing a bike, a candle, and taking a credit card from a co-worker at a California Starbucks.
Robreno at that time declined to detain her, but set strict conditions for her to remain under house arrest with a family member in Philadelphia. There was no indication that she had violated any of those conditions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen contended that Kirsch and her former boyfriend, Edward K. Anderton, took part in a brazen identity-theft scam and then went on a wild spending spree.
Contact staff writer Emilie Lounsberry at 215-854-4828 or at elounsberry@phillynews.com.
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