Kelley Marie Ferguson was ordered held without bond in federal court yesterday.

Debra Ferguson, the woman's mother and only family member remaining in Hawai'i, did not speak during the detention hearing yesterday. But earlier in the day said: "She's just going to have to stay in jail and learn her lesson. This was a big, big problem, and if she has to sit in jail ­ oh, well. She's going to have to deal with it."

In tones that varied from bitterness to anguish, the mother said she had rejected suggestions that the family arrange bail. She said she could not "risk the rest of my family's life because of a brat" by posting bail, even if a judge would grant it.

"She's going to run and we're going to be left with a $25,000 debt," said the mother, 49, a nurse. "I'm not a millionaire. ... She promises not to do it again ­ but, yeah, right."

Ferguson, 20, an unemployed one-time waitress, is the youngest of four daughters of Laguna Hills residents Debra and Tim Ferguson, owner of an auto repair shop. She was arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of making a terrorist threat after allegedly leaving notes promising to "kill all Americanos abord" the cruise ship on which she and her family were vacationing.

Authorities say she has confessed to committing the hoax in an attempt to force the ship, Legend of the Seas, back to its Ensenada, Mexico, starting point so she could return to her boyfriend.

The threats led the ship to divert from a scheduled stop in Hilo and anchor off Honolulu, where it was boarded and searched by 120 federal and local agents.

That response cost the U.S. Coast Guard $336,000, assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson said yesterday, adding that the costs for other agencies involved had not been tallied. He said if Ferguson is found guilty the government could seek restitution but "it doesn't look like the defendant has the ready ability to come up with that kind of money."

Sorenson also said the ship's owner, Miami-based Royal Caribbean, could also try to sue Ferguson for damages. Royal Caribbean officials could not be reached for comment.

In court yesterday, Ferguson's lawyer, federal public defender Loretta Faymonville, told the judge she would not oppose the prosecutor's motion to deny bail.

Sorenson argued against bail, citing what he called Ferguson's "immaturity, instability and insensitivity." He also said that if freed, Ferguson was likely to reunite with boyfriend Joshua Brashear, who Sorenson said would create an unsuitable "environment" for the young woman.

Federal judge Kevin S.C. Chang agreed and asked Ferguson if she understood what had been said. She said, "Yes," twice, speaking softly with her hands on her lap, Faymonville sitting to her left. Chang then ordered Ferguson to remain in custody.

In California, Brashear yesterday denied that he is a bad influence on Ferguson and said he believed the descriptions of him in court reflected a dislike for him felt by Kelley Ferguson's parents. Brashear said he encouraged Ferguson to join the family on the cruise, the culmination of two years of planning by Ferguson's father, who wanted to take his family on one last vacation together before the daughters moved more fully into their own lives.

"I told her she should go because this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip on a Hawai'i cruise," Brasher said, adding that "of course I feel bad" about Ferguson's arrest, but does not feel responsible for her actions. "She's 20 years old," he said. "She can do what she wants."

According to Orange County, Calif., court records ­ which also identify him by the name Joshua Jason Trybula ­ Brashear pleaded guilty to a cocaine-possession charge in May 1998 and was sentenced to 90 days in Orange County Jail plus three years' probation.

While on probation in August 1999, Brashear was allegedly caught trying to steal 12 CDs from a music shop, the court records said. He also failed to report to his probation officer, and in September 2000 was jailed for another 90 days. While Brashear was in jail, he called Ferguson collect daily, running up a $1,500 phone bill for the Fergusons, the father said.

Ferguson has her own history of minor legal scrapes. She was twice cited for misdemeanor loitering on public property in 1996 and an arrest warrant was issued when she failed to show up for court, records said. The cases were dismissed in January 2002, apparently before the warrants were served.

Sorenson said after the hearing that the case would go to the grand jury next week, and that the charges on which Ferguson ultimately is tried could be different ­ and lesser ­ than the two threat charges she now faces, which call for up to 10 years in prison each.

Despite the family's unwillingness to post bail, the mother said she hopes her daughter's lawyer will be able to get leniency from the judge ­ a one-year jail term, perhaps.

The mother said she has tried to see her daughter in the Federal Detention Center but had not been able to get in.

"It's been so hard," she said. "She's my daughter ­ but she also inconvenienced all those people on board."