Ex-Paralegal Gets 100 Months For I.D. Theft, Forgeries In Connection With Ripoffs Of Employer/Law Firm, Clients' Trust Accounts

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania):

• Bonnie Sweeten, 40, of Pennsylvania, was sentenced [] to 100 months in prison for fraud schemes in which she stole in excess of $600,000 from her employer and family members. Sweeten pleaded guilty June 21, 2011 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge William H. Yohn, Jr., ordered Sweeten to pay restitution in the amount of $1,091,831 and a special assessment of $200. Sweeten remains in federal custody.



• Sweeten stole funds from family members, from the law office where she had been employed, and from the law firm’s clients. She used the identity of another person and posed as another person while using false identification and forging signatures on various documents including a property settlement.



• Additionally, Sweeten stole the identity of a friend and fellow employee and used the identity to facilitate her flight from the jurisdiction. She also forged a signature of a judge on a court order for the purpose of fraudulently withdrawing client funds from a bank. As part of her scheme to defraud, Sweeten concocted an elaborate hoax that she and her daughter had been kidnaped in order to deceive family members and law enforcement as toher whereabouts.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Bonnie Sweeten Sentenced For Fraud Schemes.

For an earlier post, see Philly Feds Probe Alleged Rogue Paralegal For Fraud, Theft; Six-Figure Sums Stolen From Law Clients; Bad Acts Lead To Boss' Disbarment: Attorney.