Runaway Mom Bonnie Sweeten Will Plead Guilty
AP
Bonnie Sweeten, who claimed she and her daughter had been kidnapped but instead turned up at Walt Disney World, is escorted into a courthouse in Richboro, Pa., Friday, May 29, 2009. Sweeten waived her extradition rights in Orlando, Fla. to face charges of filing a false report and identity theft in Pennsylvania.
Bucks County mom Bonnie Sweeten is expected to enter a guilty plea in court today -- admitting that she faked her own abduction and that of her nine-year-old daughter back in May.
"Bonnie Sweeten will admit her complicity to making false reports to authorities," attorney Louis Busico told the Bucks County Courier Times. Sweeten is charged with making a false police report and identity theft.
The Feasterville mom, 38, called 9-1-1 claiming she and her 9-year-old daughter were abducted by two black men, then stuffed in the trunk of a car, according to police.
She was later found, with her daughter, and arrested at an upscale Disney World hotel in Florida. Sweeten used a friend's identity to buy her one-way tickets, said police.
Sweeten is also under investigation for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from employers, friends and family. Prosecutors have said Sweeten used the money for fertility treatments and to maintain a suburban lifestyle that she couldn't really afford. Their theory is that she ran off because she was unhappy with her marriage to second husband Richard Sweeten and possibly because her financial problems were about to be exposed, according to investigators.
Since her extradition back to Bucks County, Sweeten has undergone psychological treatment and she's had supervised visits with her three daughters. Husband Richard Sweeten has filed for divorce.
Posted Thursday, Aug 27, 2009 - 5:20 AM EST
