Ex-teacher who faked cancer gets two years in prison
Associated Press via the Boston Globe
June 15, 2006
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. --A former special education teacher who faked cancer and collected $37,000 in donations, which she later spent on a vacation and jewelry, was sentenced Thursday to two years behind bars.
Heather Faria, 27, of Dighton, also was sentenced to eight years of probation during a hearing in New Bedford Superior Court, according to Lisa Leonard, a spokeswoman from Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh.
Faria pleaded guilty in April to five counts of larceny and one count of gross fraud. She'll be eligible for parole after one year and also must repay the donations, said her attorney, Francis O'Boy.
O'Boy said he was pleased Faria would serve her time at the Dartmouth House of Correction, rather than state prison, as prosecutors requested.
"This isn't a crime of violence," he said. "This was a situation where she couldn't stand the pressure of opportunity."
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Faria, a former teacher at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, began telling people she had stomach cancer in 2003. Friends later hosted several fundraisers for Faria, including a 50-mile relay race that raised $9,000, after she said she was having trouble choosing between paying for food or expensive treatments.
Prosecutors said she spent the money on a vacation to the island of St. Martin, a big-screen television, jewelry and cell phones.
The ruse was discovered after some skeptics learned she was never a cancer patient after checking with Dana Farber Cancer Institute, where Faria claimed to be a patient, O'Boy said.
O'Boy said Faria initially believed she had cancer after a doctor recommended she get a lump on her arm checked. She accepted some unsolicited help from friends, then continued to accept money after she learned she didn't have cancer, O'Boy said.
"She should have given it back," he said. "Once you get started, how do you get off a moving train?"
Faria resigned her teaching job in June 2005.
