Montgomery County Fugitive In US Custody After Trying To Flee To Philippines

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- A Montgomery County woman accused of swindling money from the disabled man she was caring for is now in federal custody after she apparently tried to sneak back into the country after fleeing to the Philippines.

DA Risa Ferman knew all along they would catch up with Janet Gitney--it was just a matter of when. It took about a month to capture the 57-year-old Lansdale woman, who is facing theft and related charges for allegedly stealing more than $300,000 from a Hatfield stroke victim she was taking care of. Ferman speculates that Gitney may have been feeling the heat as authorities from the Philippines began closing in on her location.

"It's certainly possible that she either saw them or heard about them from folks near where she was living and realized that we were closing in and decided to come back on her own," Ferman says.

She credits alert customs officials at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City who ran Gitney's name and noticed there were warrants for her arrest. Gitney was taken into custody by US Marshals on Tuesday and will eventually be returned to Montgomery County.

Reported by Brad Segall, KYW Newsradio