Bonnie Sweeten now in federal custody

Bonnie Sweeten, the Bucks woman who stole from her employer and her ex-husband's ailing grandfather, and then fled after claiming she was kidnapped, is now in federal custody.

Sweeten, 39, was released from Bucks County prison this morning after serving 10 months on state charges, and is now facing trial on a slew of federal charges.

Sweeten was arrested by FBI agents as she emerged from the Bucks facility, said Patricia Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia.

Later, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacob Hart ordered her detained until a bail hearing on Wednesday.

Sweeten wore a white prison uniform, and was handcuffed as she was led into the courtroom. Her blond hair has grown out into a medium brown.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Wolf said the government will seek to have her held until trial. "She presents a flight risk," said Wolf.

Sweeten, in Bucks jail for a nationally publicized abduction hoax, is accused of stealing more than $700,000 while working as a paralegal at a Feasterville law firm.

She was jailed in August for falsely reporting that she and her 9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men. She was arrested the next day at Walt Disney World, where she had flown with the child using a coworker's stolen identity.