Sweeten handed over to feds

Bonnie Sweeten, the Feasterville mom doing time in Bucks County prison in connection with a nationally publicized kidnapping hoax in May 2009, was paroled yesterday - into the waiting arms of the FBI to face federal charges.

Sweeten, dressed in a white blouse and white sweatpants, later appeared in federal court and was temporarily detained by U.S. Magistrate Jacob P. Hart pending arraignment and a pre-trial detention hearing on June 30.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Wolf said the feds would move for Sweeten's detention at that time because she "posed a flight risk."

Federal defender David Kozlow said the defense would argue for her release on bail.

Sweeten, 39, was charged last month by a federal grand jury with multiple counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, identity theft and related offenses between 2005 and 2009.

Authorities alleged Sweeten pilfered more than $700,000 while working as a paralegal in a now-closed Feasterville law firm.

Prosecutors also say she masqueraded as her boss to take out a six-figure loan in her boss' name, plundered nearly $300,000 from her ex-husband's grandfather's retirement account and stole settlement checks from two law clients.

The indictment alleged Sweeten spent the purloined funds on clothing, jewelry, electronics, tanning salons, furniture and other personal items.

Sweeten gained national notoriety in May 2009 when she frantically called authorities and said she and her 9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men. She was later arrested at Walt Disney World, in Orlando, where she had flown with her daughter using a co-worker's stolen identity, authorities said.

Sweeten pleaded guilty last August to state charges of identity theft and making false reports and began serving a 9- to 24-month sentence.

If convicted of all charges in the federal case, Wolf said Sweeten could face almost nine years in a federal lockup.