Philadelphia Region Local News

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― A young couple whose laptop showed off a highflying lifestyle allegedly financed through identify theft are hoping to win a plea deal on state charges, but their troubles are mounting.

The FBI is now weighing federal charges against college student Jocelyn Kirsch and her boyfriend, University of Pennsylvania graduate Edward Anderton.

"We're investigating with the intention of charging them federally," FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams said late Thursday, hours after Kirsch's parents bailed her out of jail on a long list of state charges.

Philadelphia police believe the young jetsetters financed their $3,000-a-month condo and luxury trips to Paris, London, Hawaii and the Caribbean with other people's money. Specifically, they stole the identity of neighbors in their upscale building -- and at least twice broke into their victims' units, police charged.

Detectives put the scope of their fraud in the past year alone at more than $100,000. They know of at least five victims so far, one of whom was taken for $30,000.

"I've talked to both of them. They know how much trouble they're in," said defense lawyer Ronald Greenblatt, who represents Kirsch but spoke for both defendants.

Greenblatt described both sets of parents as hardworking, and said they cannot fathom what led their children to get involved in such a massive fraud scheme.

The lawyer hopes to negotiate plea deals, and does not expect Kirsch and Anderton to turn on each other.

"From the information I have, they're both responsible for this," Greenblatt said. "For either one to be pointing the finger at the other just belies the evidence in the case."

Kirsch, 22, had invited friends to join the couple at a wine bar Wednesday night to mark Anderton's 25th birthday. The pair instead spent the night in jail.

On Thursday morning, she looked drawn and anxious when she appeared by video hookup for a bail hearing. The seemingly brash woman who flaunted sexy clothes, expensive hairdos and colored contact lenses in her world travels was reduced to a sweat shirt and glasses, with jail cinderblocks as a backdrop. She blinked hard and fought back tears as she heard lawyers discuss the crimes.

Anderton's mother broke down at one point, briefly sobbing as she waited for her son's hearing.

The pair was arrested at a UPS store by waiting police Friday and charged with identity theft, forgery, unlawful use of a computer and related offenses. They posted bail, but turned themselves in Wednesday to face additional burglary charges for the alleged break-ins. Police fear they may have installed spyware on some of their victims' computers.

During a weekend search of the couple's home, police said they found $17,500 in cash, dozens of credit cards, fake driver's licenses, keys to unlock many of the apartments and mailboxes in their building, and an industrial machine that makes ID cards.

They also found a dazzling array of travel photos on the laptop:

Kirsch modeling a red bikini at an elegant resort and reclining nude in a spa-sized bubble bath; the pair riding horseback on a beach and kissing beneath the Eiffel Tower.

The photo album, released to the press, has attracted a crush of national media and untold Internet hits.

Bail Commissioner Dwain E. Hill, told that Anderton's father works at a newspaper in Washington state, looked out at the throng of reporters and quipped, "He works at a newspaper? How ironic."

A preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday morning on the initial charges was postponed until February.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Winter believed a reasonably high bail was needed to ensure the pair's appearance, given that neither has permanent ties to Philadelphia. Hill split the difference between the defense and prosecution requests, raising Kirsch's bail to $105,000 and Anderton's to $130,000.

None of the parents commented publicly on the charges.

Kirsch was released from jail Thursday afternoon, diving into the back of a car with a hooded sweat shirt covering her face. She was expected to return to Winston-Salem, N.C., with her father, a plastic surgeon.

Anderton remained in custody Thursday afternoon. His parents, who live in Everett, Wash., were expected to post bail and bring him there.

Anderton, a youth swimming standout who swam for Penn, was recently fired from a job as a financial analyst. He has no prior arrests, said his lawyer, Larry Krasner.

Kirsch is a student at Drexel University. She was charged last year with three counts of retail theft, one of which ended in a conviction, Greenblatt said. The other charges were dropped.

"It's terrible that someone with this kind of potential would engage in this kind of activity and throw away unbelievable career opportunities in life," he said of his client. "I'm just hopeful that she'll get some kind of chance to redeem herself."


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