U.S. marshals have relocated Christi Rowan to a federal women's prison in Greenville, Ill., where she will serve her 14-month sentence for defrauding a credit union and the bankruptcy estate of former auto mogul Denny Hecker.

Rowan, who pleaded guilty to bank fraud and bankruptcy fraud in April, had been held in the Sherburne County jail since Feb. 23. She was sentenced March 15. Her new address at the Federal Correctional Institution in Greenville is just 40 miles outside of St. Louis, according to records filed this week by the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Rowan's attorney, Janet Newberg, asked a judge to recommend that Rowan be sent to the Illinois prison because it was the closest minimum security facility for women. Rowan wanted to be as close to her two minor children as possible.

Greenville, "is the closest federal prison camp for women and federal prison camps are the lowest level of security," Newberg said. "They generally don't have fences around them. It is dormitory-style living." After her release, Rowan faces five years of probation and must pay $36,098 in restitution.

The government accused Rowan of stealing Hecker's American Express gift cards from the FBI, of illegally withdrawing funds from Hecker's bank account in December, of lying under oath and lying to a credit union in 2008 to obtain a Range Rover for Hecker, who is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Duluth for defrauding lenders out of more than $30 million.

Rowan and Hecker were married by phone in February during a controversial ceremony in which the groom was in jail while the bride was in a church communicating by speaker phone.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725