Chester Co. woman sentenced after pleading guilty in $12,000 fake cancer scam
CHESTER SPRINGS, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A Chester County woman who faked a cancer diagnosis for profit has been sentenced after pleading guilty to theft by deception and forgery.
Jessica Smith of Chester Springs received probation and was ordered Tuesday to pay restitution while attending the county's mental health program.
Police said Smith collected $12,000 through GoFundMe and Facebook claiming she needed money for medical bills and treatment for her fake ailment.
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On a separate occasion, police said she submitted a letter to the Department of Children, Youth, & Families (CYF) that was supposedly signed by a Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor.
Smith's husband and a friend tipped off Uwchlan Township police to the scam.
Police said both were aware Smith did not have Hereditary Non-Polypsis Colorectal Cancer and was not being treated at Abramson Cancer Center, which she had claimed.
Police recovered bank records showing deposits from PayPal and medical records that did not indicate a cancer diagnosis.
Smith was sentenced to three years of probation, admitted to the County's Mental Health Protocol Program (MHP), and is required to return $4,375 to GoFundMe and $8,311 to Facebook for the theft by deception charge.
She was sentenced to one year probation for the forgery charge.
