Plea deal set for Bonnie Sweeten, who stole $1M, faked kidnap

A Bucks County woman who federal prosecutors say bilked a law firm and its clients and an individual retirement account of almost $1 million and then staged her own abduction in 2009, has decided to plead guilty next Tuesday in federal district court.

Bonnie Sweeten, 40, formerly of Feasterville, was charged by a federal grand jury in May 2010 with fraud, aggravated identity theft and related offenses and has been held without bail since then.

Neither Sweeten's attorney, federal defender James J. McHugh Jr., nor Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Wolf, commented yesterday after a document was filed with the court that indicated that Sweeten would change her plea.

If convicted of all charges, Sweeten could face nine to 10 years behind bars, a federal judge said last year when denying her request for bail.

Sweeten's trial had been expected to start in federal court on June 20, but a court filing on March 16 by McHugh had asked for a delay.

"More time is needed to determine if the matter can be resolved by way of a non-trial disposition," he wrote.

Sweeten, a mother of three, gained national attention in 2009 when she claimed that she and her then-9-year-old daughter had been kidnapped by two black men.

In fact, she was on her way to Florida, allegedly using a fake identity. She fled as authorities were investigating allegations that she had stolen $700,000 from clients of a Feasterville law firm, where she worked as a paralegal.

Authorities also said that she plundered the retirement account of her ex-husband's grandfather to the tune of $280,000.

The thefts allegedly occurred between November 2005 and May 2009.

Sweeten allegedly spent the stolen money on clothing, entertainment, jewelry, restaurants, tanning salons, mortgage payments, furniture, electronics, medical services and children's activities.

She served a 10-month sentence in Bucks County prison after pleading guilty in August 2009 to identity theft and making false reports.