Umm you should really read the story before commenting on it. She stole money from people by pretending to be sick; she didn't steal money from sick people. Secondly, O'Connell was not complicit. In fact, if you had bothered to actually read the article, you'd have seen that he's the one who actually turned her in when he found out about it.

She is in fact stealing money from the sick. How much of that money would have went to worthy causes. I do agree with you that people really need to read the article before commenting.

She thought she was going to get married once.....now your going to be loved by many in the big poky. The new queen B in prison where you belong!

Sorry to all those who are and who have lost someone to Cancer, this is disgusting that someone would take away from the seriousness of this tragic illness.

....And here we go again with the witless misogyny. Seriously, if she was African American, would you all be calling her the n-word and using other racial epiphets? This is no different; you're just targetting women instead of minorities.

Oh and @Phillip, what you describe is really only common in male prisons. Rape does happen in female prisons, but it's extremely rare. Chances are, the worst part for her will be nobody bothering to visit her; that's typically the problem that women in prison face, whereas men for whatever reason tend not to have that problem (though they get to deal with the rapes instead).

As part of her punishment they should force her to do "community service" working at a hopsital/program for kids who really are dying from this. What a horrible person.

That's on top of a stiff prison sentence for all the larceny, etc.

Well if lying to fleece money from the public is a crime.....then all politicians should probably be brought up on similar charges.

A fool and his money are quickly separated, let this be a lesson to all to be vary wary of who you donate to.....there is a scam a minute out there.

Kris try to get the humor in my first part of my post, thats all it was meant to be, but as it would seem your just here to troll along like your a know it all as your post clearly shows......

i lost my wife two years ago and wish it were a lie ! im 54 years old and we went through hell for 8yrs since her being diagnosed ! this good mom bitch needs to feel the pain of every soul lost to cancer, the invasive treatments and therapies we all have been through! forget about the honeymoon sweetheart and your children do not need to be raised by such SCUM!

Feel your pain Dan, I've lost 4 in the past year to cancer, it's not something to lie about and take from people that really could of used the money to help pay for their treatments, Agreed pure Scum!

Dan-

From those of us who are still battling "the" disease-ditto to your post. They should not ever be allowed to walk peacefully on this earth for what they have done.

"You reap what you sow."

Good mother my ass!!! A good mother sets a good example for her children, she does not teach them how to be a scam artist. At least her daughter is too young to remember what was going on while her mom was pulling off this scam. Not only should this bitch face a stiff prison sentence, but she should be forced to make complete restitution of all money she defrauded from people. In addition, she should be forced to put in at least 2000 hours of community service at a children's cancer hospital so that she can get a taste of what having this horrible disease is really like. I watched a friend in school die from leukemia and it is not a nice way to go. This bitch needs to experience the pain and suffering this disease causes for both the people that have it and their families.

This bimbo is a dispicable human being. Not only should she pay back every penny, she should do time in prison. Her hubby said she is a good mom, what is she going to teach her kids, how to rip people off?

Her biggest mistake wasn't that she committed fraud. Her biggest mistake was that she didn't become a well-known politician or CEO before committing her fraud. If she had, then instead of being indicted and facing jail time, she would have been rewarded, promoted, elected, and admired by a large proportion of the American people. We just love our political and business frauds, the current governor of Florida being a good example.

Well, at least the money got to where it was supposed to go instead of getting eaten up in advertising costs and other bullsh*t donation places lack to tell you. Hey, how about 1000 of you people donate 5 dollars to me so I can replace my leaky roof on this delapidated piece of sh*t trailer, which unfortunately is all I can afford to live in... yeah, good will my ass. We want to feed the kids of other nations over our own.

And someone please tell me why in 60 plus years of researching a cure for cancer and other diseases, these people haven't got a cure yet?

Because they don't want to see you live any longer than necessary. Once you're gone, the cures will be coming out of the woodwork.

My husband always says that they don't want to find a cure for cancer because once they do there is no more money to be made. They can put a man on the moon, landrover on Mars and excavate the Titatanic for millions of dollars but can't come up with a cure for a common disease?

Uh-huh. Let me guess, peace on earth will happen then too, right? By the way, Mymom, you want to be honest then take the 'not' out. The only difference between this gal and most 'charity' organizations is that she was stupid and got caught.

Debbie,

Think you summed it up well.

To K Dracona: Because the drug companies and medical profession makes toooo much money on the treatments that allow them to make the most money.

msfruhauf

As part of her punishment they should force her to do "community service" working at a hopsital/program for kids who really are dying from this.

Honestly, I don't think I would want her around sick children...

Adding a little more to the cure for cancer comments. There is a pill out there now that can do just about anything for you. Revive your sex life, eat what you want and lose weight anyway, make you look younger....etc Jerry Lewis has been raising money for MD research for the last 60 years........no cure......money has been raised at least that long to find cures for cancer.....all they did was give you a longer life expectancy. Stop churning out boutique drugs and work on what ails us.

As for this worthless POS, she should have to serve some time in a cancer ward of a hospital. See what these people go through so she can show her pride in faking this disease. My brother died 26 years ago at the age of 20 from leukemia. I wonder if she would have done this seeing what I had to witness for the three years he lived after his diagnosis.

All for a trip to Aruba. I do see a career in investment banking or as a politician, in her future.

They're never too young to notice good/bad behavior. She should be setting a good example from day one. You dont pick up morals as the kids age. Is she going to fess up to the kids and tell them what she did so they can learn from her example? I think not. And crimes like this do hurt others in that they make people less trusting and less likely to help others truly in need after they know they've been scammed.

salute! send her back to her native country! soooo anti-american!

That's a logical fallacy. She may very well be an excellent mom in other respects, but this is clearly a massive failing on her part that needs to be addressed so that, when her children get old enough to notice such things, she'll be able to set a better example for them.

I'm not sure it's accurate to refer to this woman as a "scam artist." I mean, scam artists generally get away with this stuff. She didn't. As far as I know, this is the first time she ever pulled something like this and it blew up in her face. I see someone who is clearly disturbed and needs to be mandated to seek therapy once her prison sentence is over so that she can understand the gravity of this and set a better example for her kids. Let's try not to over-simplify this.

lol Kris, why are you so interested in defending this person? Why are you so invested?

A murderer, who murders, but gets caught is still a murderer. A thief, who gets caught, is still a thief.

They ALLLLLLLLLLLLL are clearly disturbed.

Anyway, um, keep fighting the good cause and being an advocate for the poor and misunderstood scammers out there..

Kris, as far as I can tell, each and every time you respond to someone's comment on the article, you seem to have read their comment wrong in some way. Florida Native called her a con artist, not a scam artist. And keep_it_cool is right, you seem to be very interested in defending this person, more than makes sense given how she milked people's pity and fear of getting cancer themselves to con donations out of them -- one reason people donate for cancer causes is to subconsciously ask fate to keep them from getting cancer themselves, not to mention because of having a family member with cancer or having had it themselves.

The reason we KNOW about con artists is the fact that they often get caught at some point. That doesn't mean they aren't a con artist, or even that they are a BAD con artist. If you do bad things, eventually you will probably get noticed, caught, or punished in some way for them.

@Kitty Really?! You want to drag this argument down into petty semantics? Yes, the commenter said, "con artists," not "scam artists." That was an error on my part. But the two are THE SAME THING! So I'm not sure what you're trying to prove with such nit-picking, other than the fact that I made a typo.

Furthermore, you seem to be creating your own "special" definition of the term "con artist" to suit your argument. By your definition, anyone who ever does anything dishonest in hopes of profiting from it, even just once in their life, is a "con artist." You simply equivocate that by saying, "Well, maybe they're just a BAD con artist." That's a contradiction in terms, since the very definition of a con artist is someone who is adept at swindling, usually through years of practice and success.

Here's how the Random House 2012 Dictionary defines "con artist":

"a person adept at swindling by means of confidence games; swindler."

Now, you might argue that it was being used in a less formal "slang" context. Ok, so here's how the 2007 Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions defines "con artist":

"someone who makes a living by swindling people."

So, either way you look at it, this woman does NOT meet the definition of "con artist." Why? For one, she's not adept at it, since she got caught rather easily and relatively quickly. Secondly, she hasn't made a career out of swindling people. In fact, as far as I can tell, this is the first time she's ever pulled something like this and it blew up in her face. That's not a con artist. That's just an idiot trying to get away with something.

@keep That's a false dichotomy. The term "con artist" does not simply refer to anyone who has ever attempted to commit a single dishonest act for self-gain. What she did, while dishonest and inexcusable, does not qualify her as a con artist for the reasons stated in my previous comment.

As for why I'm defending her, well, I'm not! How many times do I have to say that what she did is inexcusable? How many times do I have to say that she needs to be punished? How many times do I have to say that every ill-gotten penny needs to be paid back to her victims?

What I am suggesting is that people not get carried away. She's not a sociopath or a murderer. She didn't hold-up a liquor store or run a 20-year Ponzi scheme. She did something wrong and should be punished, but let the punishment fit the crime. Unless you believe that there's no difference between someone who stole money for a wedding and someone who committed murder?

She'll pay the price for what she did and life will go on. So put your torches and pitchforks away before you put somebody's eye out.

I see, so when did you realize you had the supernatural ability to tell whether a person has cancer by simply looking at them? It's utterly ludicrous to suggest that he could have known she wasn't really sick simply by looking at her.

Besides, again it's worth noting that he's the one who turned her in.

Kris, the only reason he turned her in is because the money ran out. Book 'em both!

And you know this.... How?

As someone battling cancer, it is disgusting that anyone would be soo low as to lie about a diagnosis such as this. I find it hard even though he turned her in to believe he thought she had cancer. The chemo alone tells its own story; it is hard on the body and it shows, along with the multiple pills, injections, and numerous doctor appointments. Just seems a little suspect on his behalf.

Because Kris, I have watched a grandfather and 2 friends die from cancer. If he was anywhere close to her he would have known about doctor's visits, medications, etc. Hell, they are getting married and he never went with her once to the doctor?

@Dark You're making a lot of assumptions, though. For one thing, did this guy have a grandfather with cancer? Or any other family member, for that matter? If not, then what makes you think he knew that something was up just because she wasn't taking a lot of pills or always going to the doctor? It's very likely that he simply assumed that she didn't do any of those things in front of him.

If it was me, I'd probably be a bit suspicious, but I can't possibly know that. Love can make people blind to the obvious. Just look at how many obvious scams there are that people fall for because the perpetrator pretended to be a love interest. Also, keep in mind that we don't exactly have the most educated population in this country, so this guy could very well just be a complete idiot.

Either way, it's impossible to conclude that this guy did or did not know given how many variables are involved.

Why not just call her a "slut" and a "prostitute" while you're at it, Rush?

Well, hey Kris if the shoe fits.

If you want I can tear her addy out of my little black book and send it to you.

Why would you defend someone like this?

Why don't you quit being an f ing troll Kris Craig.

@Viewer Why do you post all your comments in italics?....

I have not said a single thing in defense of what this person did. Feel free to grab my quotes and prove me wrong on that.

But misogyny is not called for here. If this woman had been an African American, and somebody posted a comment that consisted solely of the n-word followed by an exclamation point, would you still object to me criticizing that? ;P

@misinformed Et tu, Brute?

Calling for a little maturity and sanity while all the boys pile-on this easy target is not trolling. Just the opposite, in fact. ;)

Well, I'm not trolling either when I use my vaginal authority to call her a b1tch myself!

BTW- I know plenty of male b1tches too.

@keep I've got no problem when it's clearly a gender-neutral usage. But Jaymanto was quite obviously using it as a gender slur. Again, if he had used the n-word instead and the perpetrator was African American, any reasonable observer would naturally take that to be a racial slur. This is no different. What amazes me is how many people are going out of their way to defend this slur.

And before anybody says it, no; this is not a free speech issue. Why? Because I'm not saying he shouldn't be allowed to use that word. I'm simply saying that he shouldn't use it. And if he does, then I'll execute my right to free speech by condemning him for it, which is exactly what I'm doing. =)

Really? Or is that just your excuse? After all, it's insultingly easy to verify the credibility/legitimacy of a charity. It seems far more likely that your real reason is that you just don't want to part with the money, so this gives you the perfect justification.

If you want to give to a charity without being swindled, do 10 seconds worth of research and you're good to go. Seriously, it's not that hard.

Really? You're going to let a few bad apples stop you from helping those who are truly in need? [Shaking my head]. You do realize, that the people who still have faith in the actions of others, still give and their money does reach those in needs. Sure, a 100% of it does not reach them all the time, and it may be a trickle effect. But sometimes it's enough to help them over a hump.

Don't stop supporting charities. Set aside an amount you deem acceptable, and just have faith that you are helping someone. If there is someone within that is corrupt, they will get their just rewards sooner or later. Sometime's it just takes time.

I tell you what, support these:

March of Dimes

St. Jude's Children's Hospital

Meals on Wheels...

those are some pretty big ones. I'm pretty sure your small donation will help. There's local food banks too! Why, just BUY some groceries and give to the local food bank! You're helping a charity! Please don't stop helping. We as a nation help so many in other countries, and yet we still do little to help our own. So don't let a few bad apples stop you.

You don't always have to give cash. Like NyNy mentioned- even buying food, donating clothes, shoes, coats, toys.. those are all worthy and you won't even be paying the salary of the CEO with it! lol

One of my things I do, in addition to other ways I help out, is like when you have homeless people asking for change. I've seen some pretty banged up, possibly strung out people.. but you can tell they aren't right, they probably aren't employable.. and I don't want to give them money for booze or drugs. They say they're hungry, I'll bring them food. That costs very little.

I treat a random homeless person to a nice grilled chicken dinner or some chicken wraps at least once a month. They're very appreciative, and sometimes even cry.

Seriously, what's with all the italics??

I like italics.

I would do more, but this is the only other font available.

WELL IT COULD BE WORSE, I SUPPOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!..... ;P

Can't say that I have lied to get something I want.

Not to the tune of thousands of dollars from people who pitied me for no reason.

But, I guess we know a little more about you know, don't we?

Again with the italics....

Well we do know that you're a liar, at least. You've NEVER lied to get something you want?! Hey, everyone! We have ourselves the first person in the history of the human race to have never told a lie to get what s/he wants!

A thousand pardons, Your Holiness! I did not realize I was speaking to a living saint.

Its certainly true that I have sinned Kris BUT...........................There are some fairly major differences here .

1 , My sin did not involved hundreds of people giving me money because of my own faked illness .

2 , My sin was not great enough to warrent publishing in even a small town newspaper , much less a major one .

3, My sin along with not being published did not include a comments section asking for peoples opinions on my sin .

So why dont we just get over ourselves and enjoy the ride ?

Kris it also says we are born into sin, so we are sinners by nature. Please don't take one line, and spout it like you are the KING of knowledge. Have I lied for money? Why yes, it's called an interview for a job. If you don't spin it just right you may not get the job. Even if you have good skills, if you don't sing the song they want to hear, you'll be passed over for the next little song bird.

Great thing about Jesus, he forgives. =) Simple as that. Love, Integrity, and Unity...

@East Your points don't mitigate my point because I've already acknowledged that the severity of her crime went beyond a simple, everyday lie. But you failed to understand the underlying point, which is that the simple fact that this lie was worse doesn't mean that we can start acting all high and mighty, condemning this "b1tch" and "sociopath" for doing something that we would never do. Even though her crime had a broader effect, there's still a rather blatant amount of hypocrisy involved.

@NyNy Well as I said, I think religion is a joke, so I'm not going to start debating the semantics of fairy tales. The simple point is, according to the Christian mythology, Jesus saw a very similar situation where people were eager to stone a criminal and reminded everyone that doing so would be inherently hypocritical. It was a cautionary note that people should not get carried away in passing judgement onto others.

As for me being the "KING of knowledge," I'm not sure where you got that. Me citing a well-known quote from your religion is not inherently arrogant. And the overly-complex and highly subjective interpretations of unrelated portions of your religion's mythos do not negate the underlying moral of that story.

Concurrent sentence and lets not get carried away 19 years murderers don't do 19 years she will return the money do a year and get five years probation.

I'm not sure, but my guess would be either a statutory cap, lighter sentences on each count, or a requirement that they be served concurrently instead of consecutively.

+1 what Liz said!

Seriously, you've got people on here calling for her execution, for crying out loud! This has nothing to do with her being a crook and everything to do with her being an easy target for all these guys to pile on in order to feel better about themselves.

She committed a crime and needs to be punished, but let's not get carried away here. If you want draconian sentences for theft, I'm sure you could find a cheap apartment in North Korea....

MELODRAMA MUCH? lol

No one is demanding her execution. Get over it.

I do feel great about myself. I don't go around exploiting people for money. Sure does feel AWESOME!

@keep Umm actually, someone did call for her execution on here. You should read all the comments before claiming that something was not actually said.

This is America, not North Korea. Sorry.

That would be some pretty heavy irony, albeit a bit too cliche for my taste.

Most likely schoolyard it would be someone she loved dearly that would develop the disease, as that is kind of how Karma plays out sometimes.

schoolyard, looks like if she really got cancer she would be treated by the NY prison system courtesy of the taxpayer.

Your humanity is without equal. And not in a good way.

Thanks...i appreciate the compliment.

Absolutely NOT Ed..I think we should kill all the children of the Wall St ass*oles as well. Teach them what REAL loss is. Goes for politicians as well.

Her husband had to have known BEFORE they were married I mean where did he think she was getting all of this money from? If her "story" was published in the local paper is her husband trying to convince someone that he never ever read the newspaper--who's supposed to believe that? What about her own friends and relatives, none of them EVER went with her to the doctor's office? Her husband is as lousy as she is, he knew what she was doing, her family also never read the local paper, they just thought all of that money fell from the sky? Her husband, family and friends are as guilty as she is. They all had to have known how she got that money.