Bonnie Sweeten Swindled $1M from Boss, Relative: Judge

Wednesday's sentencing hearing for the hoax mom may not be over by the end of the day

A federal judge has found that a Pennsylvania woman stole more than $1 million before she called in a hoax carjacking and fled to Disney World with a daughter.

The million-dollar fraud boosts Bonnie Sweeten's sentencing range to about seven to nine years.

The 40-year-old paralegal was in court Wednesday for sentencing but the hearing didn't conclude. The hearing will resume Jan. 26, officials said.

Prosecutors are seeking 10 years in prison for her guilty pleas to fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Sweeten triggered a nationwide search in 2009 when she told a 911 operator she and her 9-year-old had been carjacked and stuffed into a trunk.

Authorities say she fled as police closed in on her for swindling her boss and an elderly relative.

Sweeten spent a year in prison for the fake abduction call.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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