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Subscribe to RSSRICHMOND, Va. -- A suburban Richmond woman was fined $100 after admitting she faked cancer to raise money.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch said that Martha Ann Nicholas pleaded guilty on Monday to two misdemeanor charges of obtaining money by false pretenses. Besides the fine, she was ordered by a judge to not take part in any charitable causes and placed on five years' probation.
A 12-month jail sentence was suspended, the newspaper reported.
The Mechanicsville woman had claimed at rallies that she was a cancer victim.
Her attorney, Sam Simpson, said Nicholas has made restitution of $1,700, the total she had collected for herself.
Nicholas had been suffering from a psychosomatic condition that made her believe she had a cancer-like illness, Simpson said.
Her family said she is receiving counseling and told the Times-Dispatch that they were relieved she was not going to jail.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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I have just completed my cancer treatments and for someone to pretend to have such a horrible disease is just uncomprehendable to me! I have lost 4 "chemo buddies" in the last 4 months to the disease. She should NOT have had her jail time suspended or better yet have to spend those 12 months sitting with people going through treatments. I am apalled at the justice system in this case!
Sorry to hear Dawnie. As I stated in an earlier post, I saw this coming as soon as I read the story...now come all the real cancer stories of tragedy. Don't get me wrong. I plead the 5th that I have anything medically wrong with me (I would rather die in peace) here, as it does nothing but invite trolls.
I appreciate your suggestion...but it was a scam, a con, a game. For a person like this to gain anything from your suggestion, they would have to know a thing or two about honesty first. Unfortunately, honesty rarely pays, so it's a foregone talent by most of society today. I am guessing you believed the tv commercial about random strangers being told to watch over a case with $100,000 and yet not taking a dime (plenty tried I'm sure; the honest people knew they were being watched...which means its not a true test of honesty or integrity). The person in the story is just hopeless. Not to worry, though. What will actually happen is that she will go to some random church and her sin will be forgiven. All better now (yawn).
I'm just surprised that anyone is surprised by this activity anymore. For those who have it bad, it stinks. People pull all kinds of stunts to get any help steered away from those who need it most and into their own pockets. I am just surprised that she avoided jail time as her kind are usually the kind who calls the police saying they are in fear for their lives, when the real victim is just clueless...yes, they love putting the law into situations that the law was not designed to handle. Why? White collar crime is why. If we persecuted every liar, there would be no white collar crime, now would there? So, as long as white collar criminals thrive, so will the con man. It's an unfortunate side effect.
This woman, as all con men, will learn nothing by anything the US Justice can dole out. I would suggest deporting her to the Phillipines, in route to Saudi Arabia. That way, she can be caned half to death and then finished off with a good stoning. Too much to wish for, I suppose.
To those who really have had, or do have cancer, I apologize for the US Justice System more than you could possibly know. Death is a little extreme, but you have to understand, the justice system isn't built for those who would abuse trust like a sociopath. She is basically getting off with an award of merit, even if she does end up going to jail because of a violation.
$100 fine? that's it? with that much penalty, no one will do something like that again, right?
Restitution to who the Government or the actual people she ripped off. It never fails when a crime is committed against a person the fine and penalties are collected by the state and nothing for the actual victim. Government is so lame.
The same insurance companies that charge huge co-pays for cancer treatments charge huge co-pays for people dying of every fatal disease. My point is that in our society, if you are very sick and not wealthy you are in financial trouble. If sick people and their families are forced to attempt to raise money in this manner you have got to expect that someone will commit fraud every now and then.
Las summer l was told l have multiple myelome, a cancer of the blood. All l could do for the next 30 min or so was just sit there in shock. L then realized that l now had to tell my wife and kids that l had a type of cancer, that coul be treated, but not cured. Allthough chemo has been hell, the worst thing is watching my family try to be strong and not show how they feel around me. lt is hard to hear your wife and daughter and granddaughter sobbing in another room of the house and being too week from the meds to go and try to comfort them. The incredable support that l have recieved from those around me is the only thing that gets me through each day. l have gone from a 230 pound, extreamly well built and physically fit persson too a 155 pound invalid who has to have help doing the simple day to day things that we take for granted. l am lucky that l am a vet and the V.A. is picking up the tab for the majority of my treatment, or l simply wouldn't be able to get it. Several times a week l travel to Indianapolis to the V.A. hospital and sit and talk with the other vets while waiting my turn for meds. We all know each other, our wives and kids all know each other, and at least once a week a group from one of the local schools or scouts come over and give out cards or candy or other little things. Watching an ex marine get tears in his eyes after getting a hug and a hand made card from a girl scout always causes at least one person in the room break down. We are all fighters, and we will never give up in our struggle to over come our illnesses, but we can not do it without a huge support system.
What this women has done is unforgivable. Someone around her knew she was faking and should have come forward as soon ass he started her deception. Although putting her in jail is not a solution, requiring her to work with cancer patients and ther families would be a start. She needs to do something to repair the damage she did- there are people who may not help others because they will not trust that the person is trully ill.
Cancer is devistating to those that have it and those around the ones that have it. What this woman did is wrong in so many ways.
docfrid... Sorry to hear what you are going through but thank you for your service. Rest easy and hope you feel better.
Rotten to the core. A scam is a scam but it doesn't get much lower than that in my opinion.
A psycho somatic illness would be ulcers caused by stress...this woman is not mentally ill.
Her "illness" is theft caused by GREED. She would have been cured by 6 months behind bars...
It is disgraceful for someone to do what she did. I don't know how her lawyer even rests at night.
zzzzzz
Sorry, I do not mean this is boring. After 5 days, just finding out if I could finally post a comment.
Ick. Too bad I don't believe in karma. She seems like a prime candidate.
Trust2112
Why do people like you have to put politics in everything. It's people like you that makes this a hard world to live in.......
She did steal the money, and I do think that she needs to send "ALL" that money that she stole from other people to ST. Jude hospital in Nashville, the cacer research center for CHILDREN. !!! That could be the best thing she could do, give all the $1700.00 plus that she was given
I recently finished my chemo and radiation treatments and it looks like the cancer is gone! But as a cancer survivor, I am especially disgusted to read a story like this. People that are diagnosed with cancer are fighting for our lives! To have someone take advantage of people's kindness and generosity is wrong and is a crime. I consider it stealing if you lie about something to get money. If this person actually has a mental illness, then I hope that she gets help.
This makes me so angry! I am a victim of stage 3 ovarian cancer and people like this give those of us who actually have the disease a bad name and it makes it difficult for those of us who suffer from the disease to obtain the financial help that we need to take care of our actual medical bills. Shame on her! This is not justice and I don't care what type of mental illness she has.
Just like Twins mom, i just finished with my treatment for stage 3 ovarian cancer. This woman should be ashamed of herself, I don't care what type of mental illness she has. Those of us diagnosed with actual cancer are fighting for our lives and generally don't have sufficient financial means to pay our bills. This woman gives people who actually have cancer a bad name and make it difficult for us to obtain financial help with our medical bills.
This makes me sick. I am a mother of a son who fought and battled bone cancer and won. I cannot believe she did this. The judge should have put her in jail. $100 seriously???? My son has a titanium rod in his leg and is doing fine but I believe this woman knew what she was doing. Being a parent of a child who has/had cancer is very stressful and extremely scary. I really wish people would stop acting like they have cancer or other terminal illnesses for their own gain. I know times are tough but come on. Get a job instead. I cant stand people like this. By the way, my son did not let this stop him from what he wants to do in life and has graduated from acting school and is moving on with his life.
This woman should be in jail. As a cancer survivor I find it sickening that someone who claims to be sick just for the money is allowed to go free! I dont care that she paid restitution, what about all the true cancer victims who have been slapped in the face by this womans actions?
Why is it so damn simple to get away with something just by saying "O I have a condition that makes me do these things"? She committed fraud and essentially stole money, but because she "has a condition" she doesn't go to jail just pays a minuscule fine?
"Nicholas had been suffering from a psychosomatic condition that made her believe she had a cancer-like illness" Why didn't the author start with this sentence? Clearly, this was different than someone just making a conscious decision to commit fraud. This is so lame... Mentally ill people do crazy things every day. Please don't waste my time with stories like this in the future!
I worked with a gal that pretended to have breast cancer. We even had a raffle at work for her and raised a few thousand dollars to help in her time of need. Turns out we paid for her breast enhancement so I suppose the money went to a great cause. You'll be happy to know that she has forgiven herself for putting her family and friends through all that emotional trauma and if "we" were good christians we'd forgive her too.
Was she in the movie Bad Teacher? Forgive and forget I guess is her motto. What goes around comes around!
I am sorry but I cannot forgive someone who pulls this stuff. I have watched kids with cancer go through such awful stuff including my son. Unless you have been in that situation, people will never understand what it is like. I have watched my child go from being healthy to dropping to 112 lbs. I do not wish cancer on anyone. Its sucks having cancer. If I were the judge in this situation, I would have given her a year in jail and then made her do 2 years community service working with cancer patients. I thank God everyday my son has beaten his cancer and am very blessed to still have him here with me but my heart goes out to other famillies who have lost loved ones to cancer. This lady was dispicable and she has no heart as far as I am concerned. She knew exactly what she was doing!
The best hearts are always the bravest. <a href="">Hollister</a>