Criminal Justice
Law Firm Manager Sentenced to Prison for Carjacking Hoax
Posted Aug 28, 2009 5:36 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A longtime paralegal and office manager for a Pennsylvania law firm has been sentenced to at least nine months in prison for falsely claiming she and her daughter had been carjacked.
Prosecutors said paralegal Bonnie Sweeten made the call before taking her daughter to Disney World, where she hoped to avoid repaying $280,000 stolen from the grandfather of her ex-husband, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The Bucks County mother is also under investigation for financial transactions at the Feasterville law office of her former employer, lawyer Debbie Carlitz, according to a separate Inquirer story.
Sweeten pleaded guilty to identity theft and filing a false police report, and Judge Jeffrey Finley sentenced her Thursday to nine to 23 months in prison, the Associated Press reports. Finley called Sweeten ''a calculating, manipulative, hardhearted woman.''
''Your wants, your needs, your wishes and desires came before everybody,'' he said.
Past coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Ex-Client Sues Law Firm, Says He Never Got $100K Settlement"
- How B of A’s GC Got Fired: Leave Now, and Leave Your BlackBerry Behind
- Schools Ranked by 'Super Lawyers' Produced
- Law Firm Price Wars Break Out as Some Try ‘Loss Leader’ Bids for Work
- Five Questions for Law Firms Abandoning Lockstep Compensation
- Judge Jails 2 Attorneys for Contempt in 4 Days
- Reed Smith Will Ask Nonequity Partners to Pony Up Possibly 15% of Pay
- Court Deputy Ordered to Apologize or Face Jail After Taking Lawyer's Paperwork
- Skadden Jumps on the Bonus Bandwagon
- ABA Executive Director Resigns
- Nasty Attitude to Co-Worker, Naughty Word in E-Mail Cost 2 Their Jobs
Should Supreme Court Justices Be Able to Review News Accounts Before Publication?
Comments
B. McLeod
Aug 28, 2009 8:16 AM CST
I’m not sure about the “calculating” part. Who in their right mind would try to hide out at Disney World? Did she think that was a magical, sovereign territory, without extradition treaties?
Flag this comment
Kalifornia Arnold
Aug 28, 2009 8:59 AM CST
Hiding out at Disney World shows this lady is goofy, Talk about a Mickey Mouse thing to do.(sort of dwarfs the intelligence)
Flag this comment
J.D.
Aug 28, 2009 9:55 AM CST
It’s like she’s from Pluto, a real Dumbo. Did she really think she could get off the Hook? Looks like she hit a WALL-E. Even though plenty of lawyers will act like her Rescuers, I bet she’ll be a Pinocchio in court. She better hope her attorney is a Lyin’ King. This Lady is a Tramp.
Flag this comment
Joanie
Aug 29, 2009 8:28 AM CST
I know it’s easy to make light of this story but, in all honesty, what this woman did to the residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties justifies a longer sentence. Not only did she falsely report a carjacking, but there was an Amber alert for her daughter and a tremendous amount of fear and anxiety over the fate of these two females. Nine months seems a little light for what she put us through.
Flag this comment
Add a Comment
We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.
Commenting has expired on this post.