Amanda Riley, 36, of California has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges with Hodgkin’s lymphoma for nearly seven years to attract more than $106,000 in donations
a northern california The woman has admitted to duping her more than $106,000 in charity by lying to everyone, including her family and friends, about having cancer for nearly seven years.
Amanda Riley, 36, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of wire fraud and could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if sentenced in February, the US Attorney’s office said in a statement.
In her plea agreement, the San Jose woman admitted that between September 2012 and January 2019, she stole cash by falsely claiming to fight Hodgkin’s lymphoma and soliciting donations on social media.
The US attorney’s statement said, “She posted pictures of drugs, pictures of herself in hospitals and pictures of herself allegedly suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy and even shaved her head to show that there was a cure.” Because of this he has lost his locks.
Prosecutors said Riley also organized several in-person fundraisers, including a church.
She admitted to receiving over 400 donations, which she used for unspecified ‘personal expenses’.
Riley received money from friends, family and members of his church, and used it for ‘personal expenses’. She went so far as to shave her head to stop this scam
The Guilty con artist laid out his plan in October 2012 and began documenting his fictitious illness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
According to federal prosecutors, she also launched a blog called Lymphoma Can Suck It.
Riley shared her pictures with the caption claiming that she was taking cancer medicines and undergoing treatment.
She shaved her head to make it look like she had lost her hair during chemotherapy.
Her blog was linked to a support page that contained false information about her fake ‘fight with cancer’.
The description reads that Riley was initially diagnosed with cancer in June 2012 and had a brief remission the following year before returning ‘with a vengeance’ as stage-4 metastatic cancer of the lymphoma, for which chemotherapy was received at various hospitals. and required several rounds of radiation treatment. Countries including Johns Hopkins Hospital.
The now-defunct page featured a clickable ‘Donate Now’ icon for visitors to donate money online, and encouraged them to ‘support Amanda’ and help her ‘fight cancer’ Is.
Riley also received money from donors via checks that were deposited into her personal bank account from friends, family and members of her church.
Riley had a blog, Lymphoma Can Suck It, which included a link to this support page that has a ‘Donate Now’ button.
A federal complaint against Riley was filed in July 2020, nearly six months after her cancer scandal was over.
Additional donations were received from a Facebook challenge, CrossFit fundraiser, Christmas ornament sale, quilt raffles, Chili’s Grill and Bar fundraiser, calendar sales and eBay auctions of various items, including autographed electric guitars by country music stars John Michael Montgomery and Leanne Rimes. are also included.
In fact, Riley has never had Hodgkin’s lymphoma or any other type of cancer.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s statement, “When people donated to Riley’s fundraising over the Internet or in person, they believed their donation was used to pay for Riley’s cancer-related expenses.” Will go.”
‘In fact, Riley had no cancer-related expenses, and the donor funds were simply deposited into Riley’s personal bank account.’
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