A suburban Philadelphia-area mother's sentencing hearing stretched into a second day. Bonnie Sweeten pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that prompted her to stage a hoax kidnapping before fleeing with her daughter to Disney World.
Sweeten, a paralegal, fled as police investigated the theft of more than $700,000 that Sweeten swindled from her boss and an elderly relative.
Sweeten told a 911 operator in 2009 that two black men had carjacked her and her 9-year-old daughter. The white mother and daughter surfaced days later in Florida.
The Feasterville woman has already served nearly a year in state prison for the false police report and 18 months awaiting trial on the federal fraud charges. She faces six to eight years under federal sentencing guidelines.
Defense lawyer James McHugh has called Sweeten "very remorseful." Her sentencing hearing began on Thursday and will continue when the Federal judge finds time on his calendar.
Bonnie Sweeten to be Sentenced
The abduction hoax mom will be sentenced for swindling nearly one million dollars
Copyright AP - Associated Press
