Woman Fakes Cancer to Raise Money for Breast Implants

In the wake of one of the worst recessions in American history, families simply do not have the discretionary income they once had. Pretty much everyone is feeling the crunch of not having the discretionary income necessary to afford certain luxuries. Take, for example, Trista Lathern, a Texas woman who recently became an entrepreneur of sorts in order to raise money to buy breast implants. Not having the money to buy them immediately, Mrs. Lathern did what any reasonable American would do and came up with a business model. However, that model consisted of an illegal scam in which she pretended to have cancer in order to get donations from sympathizers with which she intended to buy the breast implants.

Mrs. Lathern went as far as shaving her head under the pretense of undergoing chemotherapy and collected over $10,000 at a cancer benefit stages on her behalf. Unfortunately for Mrs. Lathern she will not be allowed to keep those donations, but there is a chance that, hearing of Mrs. Lathern’s touching story, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will be willing to donate food, clothing, and shelter to her for about a half-decade or so. She has been charged with theft by deception, a felony in Texas.

Tennessee and Texas have similar theft statutes. Tennessee consolidates all theft-like offenses such as false pretense, larceny, receiving stolen property, etc. into two categories: theft of property and theft of services. Mrs. Lathern’s conduct would be classified as theft of property in Tennessee, because she took money rather than services from people under the pretense of accepting donations to pay for cancer treatment. Theft in Tennessee is graded according to the value of property or services taken, with the most severe punishment accompanying theft of $60,000 or more. It is not clear exactly how much money Mrs. Lathern received, but it appears to be between $10,000 and $60,000, which would result in a Class C felony charge in Tennessee. Class C felonies are punishable by three to fifteen years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.

Charity benefits are a great way to raise money, but only if the purpose is legitimate. Raising money for fake charities is actually pretty common as far as fraudulent rackets go because they are effective at making money, do not require a lot of planning or specialized knowledge, and people are generally hesitant to question someone’s affiliation with a charity. However, such conduct is morally reprehensible and illegal in every state. Possible alternatives to suckering in unwitting philanthropists include setting up a lemonade stand or having a bake sale.

Source: http://news.aol.com/health/article/trista-lathern-allegedly-fakes-breast/759177