Woman faked cancer to avoid prison time in CA, feds say. Now she gets 2 more years
A woman tried to dodge prison by faking a cancer diagnosis to a California court, federal officials said.
Now 38-year-old Ashleigh Lynn Chavez of Chula Vista will serve an additional two years on an obstruction of justice charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in a news release.
An attorney for Chavez did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
Initially Chavez was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison after she pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to embezzle $160,000 from a past job, the release states.
But she submitted a forged note from her doctor to her attorney that said she had “cancerous cells” in her uterus, federal officials say.
Her attorney believed it was a real doctor’s note and submitted it to prosecutors for leniency, the release states. She was then able to remain out of custody for three months to get medical treatment.
Then Chavez got a new attorney and provided more fake notes from doctors, which her attorney submitted to the prosecutor and court, the release states.
One letter from Chavez said she had “limitations due to uterine cancer and future need for radiation,” prosecutors said in the release.
Another letter said her cancer spread to her cervix, and another stated “she cannot be exposed to COVID-19 because of her fragile state,” according to the release.
These doctors’ notes then suggested Chavez avoid a prison sentence all together.
“(a) year in prison could be a death sentence for my patient … I highly recommend the chance to allow home confinement or anything else that you deem appropriate rather than a year in prison,” Chavez wrote in a letter attributed to an oncologist in San Diego, officials said.
But Chavez was never diagnosed with cancer by these doctors, the release states, and they never signed the documents.
Chavez was able to push back her sentencing by six months in the ploy.
“The defendant obstructed justice by committing a fraud on the federal court,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said. “The lengthy sentence in this case – double the prison term that she initially received — demonstrates just how ill-advised it was for this defendant to attempt to delay the payment of her debt to society.”
This story was originally published July 6, 2022 at 5:50 PM with the headline "Woman faked cancer to avoid prison time in CA, feds say. Now she gets 2 more years."
