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Kirsch ordered under house arrest, must stay in Phila.

Jocelyn S. Kirsch, half of an identity-theft duo charged with bilking friends and neighbors of more than $100,000, was allowed to be released today but she must remain under house arrest in Philadelphia.

Jocelyn Kirsch as she entered the federal courthouse this morning. (ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ/DAILY NEWS)
Jocelyn Kirsch as she entered the federal courthouse this morning. (ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ/DAILY NEWS)Read more

Jocelyn S. Kirsch, half of an identity-theft duo charged with bilking friends and neighbors of more than $100,000, was allowed to be released today but she must remain under house arrest in Philadelphia.

In addition, U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno this afternoon said that Kirsch must be in the custody of her mother, father or a third family member at all times.

The house arrest will begin tomorrow at a place to be chosen by federal pre-trial services officials. For tonight, she will remain in the custody of her mother, Jessica.

Robreno told Kirsch that if she violates any of the conditions of her release she will be immediately detained.

"Do you understand the conditions?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," said Kirsch.

In court, Kirsch was somber and grim faced and looked down during much of the proceedings. She wore no makeup and her dress was much plainer than the stylish clothing she was pictured in photographs showing the the lavish lifestyle she and her boyfriend Edward Anderton had enjoyed before they were apprehended late last year.

In court this afternoon, Kirsch had her long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore glasses rather than the lavender tinged contacts she had been known to wear.

Today's ruling followed a 90-minute hearing on whether her bail should be revoked. Kirsch had been staying in California, where her mother resides.

While free on bail on identity-fraud charges, Kirsch took a credit card from a coworker at a California Starbucks, donned a disguise, and purchased $216 from a drug store, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia contended this morning.

She also purchased $338 in merchandise from an IKEA in California. On April 5, she stole a $2,000 bicycle by pretending to be a legitimate customer at a Lafayette, Calif., bike shop, asking to test-drive the bike and then taking off, never returning, according to court documents filed a short time ago in Philadelphia.

When police investigated, they interviewed an employee of the bicycle shop, who identified Kirsch by "noting her distinctive purple contact lenses," court papers stated.

Prosecutors say Kirsch stole the credit card on March 28 from the Starbucks coworker. She used the disguise only at the drug store.

Kirsch now faces, under federal sentencing guidelines, 6 to 7 years or more in prison, prosecutors said.

"The defendant has proven herself to be a criminal who will not follow the law or the rules of supervision when it is so unquestionably in her interests to do so," stated Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis D. Lappen and prosecutor Lisa Caulfield in the documents.

A striking 22-year-old known for her sometimes-violet eyes, Kirsch had been a senior at Drexel University.

She and Edward K. Anderton, a University of Pennsylvania graduate who became romantically involved with Kirsch in late 2006, were dubbed the Bonnie and Clyde of Identity Theft when they were arrested in December.

Lappen said they had scammed the victims out of more than $116,000 and then went on a wild spending spree, buying furniture, electronics and jewelry, and traveling to Paris, the Caribbean and Hawaii.