Photo: Scott County Sheriff's Office
An Iowa woman who lied about having cancer and received hundreds of donations will avoid jail time in relation to her scheme.
Madison Russo, 20, was given probation and a 10-year suspended license, as well as being ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution, a $1,370 fine and complete 100 hours of community service as part of her sentencing on Friday (October 20), the New York Post reports. Iowa District Court Judge John Telleen declined a defense request to have Russo's conviction wiped off her record if she completes the probation, acknowledging that anyone who deals with her in the future must be advised that she had previously engaged in a "criminal scheme" and that "serious crimes must have serious consequences."
“Through this scheme, you deceived your friends, your family, your community, other cancer victims, charities and strangers who were motivated by your supposedly tragic story to donate to help support you,” the judge said via the New York Post.
Russo, who falsely claimed to have pancreatic cancer, leukemia and a football-sized tumor wrapped around her spine in post shared on multiple social media platforms, claimed that her intention was to get her troubled family to focus on her.
“A lot of people have made speculation as to why I did this and how somebody who looked like they had everything together could have such a mess,” Russo said in the courtroom via the New York Post. “I didn’t do this for money or greed. I didn’t do this for attention. I did this as an attempt to get my family back together.”
Russo had already paid the $39,000 restitution previously, which was being held by the court. GoFundMe had also previously refunded the money paid by more than 400 donors.