Pa. hoax-kidnap mom to learn sentence in swindle

A suburban Philadelphia-area mother is being sentenced today for a fraud scheme that prompted her to stage a hoax kidnapping before fleeing with her daughter to Disney World.

Paralegal Bonnie Sweeten has since admitted that she fled as police investigated the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars 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.”