Jun 22, 2009 11:36 pm US/Eastern
Mom Accused Of Abduction Hoax Waives Hearing
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) ―
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Bonnie Ann Sweeten allegedly told police she and her 9-year-old daughter, Julia Rakoczy, were abducted after a crash on May 26.
CBS
A suburban Philadelphia woman accused of faking her abduction and taking her 9-year-old daughter to Disney World understands the panic and police work she set off, according to her lawyer.
Bonnie Sweeten, 38, looked rested and composed at a brief court hearing Monday, in contrast to the bedraggled woman the FBI captured in Florida after a 30-hour search last month.
"She realizes fully now that it took a lot of resources and a lot of manpower to solve what turns out to be not a crime," defense lawyer Louis Busico said after Sweeten left a small Bucks County courthouse with her landscaper husband.
Sweeten waived her right to a preliminary hearing on charges of identity theft and false reporting, when she could have challenged evidence in the case.
Sweeten had called 911 from downtown Philadelphia on May 26 and reported that two black men had carjacked her and her daughter near their home and locked them in the trunk of a Cadillac, police said.
At the time, local police were investigating whether Sweeten had stolen money from a family member or others. Those investigations continue, Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said Monday.
Sweeten worked for 15 years for lawyer Debbie Carlitz, who said Monday that she and police are trying to tally the amount of money missing from her accounts.
"She was a very good con artist," Carlitz said. "Every day we learn something new."
Sweeten has not been charged in the suspected thefts.
Busico offered little insight into the kidnapping tale.
"It's really hard to speculate, and to make sense of a senseless act, other than she was a woman falling apart," he said.
Sweeten, free on bail, has been undergoing mental-health treatment and is back with her three children, although she is not allowed to be alone with them. Both husband Richard L. "Larry" Sweeten, with whom she has an infant, and ex-husband Tony Rakoczy, the father of her two older girls, were in court Monday.
"She's being a full-time mom to three kids," Busico said. "Everyone's getting along."
Sweeten had withdrawn $12,000 from several bank accounts and flown to Florida with daughter Julia Rakoczy under the name of a former co-worker whose driver's license she had taken in a ruse, authorities said. She paid cash for the one-way tickets and the hotel stay.
She and her husband live with the girls in a $425,000 home they bought new in late 2006.
After her arrest, Larry Sweeten said he was in the dark about reports of marital and money problems, but noted that his wife handled their finances. He questioned whether their $403,000 mortgage was being paid.
Leaving the courthouse Monday, he declined to comment.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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