Madison Russo has been ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution.Photo:Scott County Jail
Scott County Jail
An Iowa woman whofalsely claimed to have cancerand pocketed nearly $38,000 from unsuspecting GoFundMe donors has been ordered to pay restitution.
On Friday, Madison Russo was handed down a 10-year suspended sentence, according to theAssociated Press. While Russo avoided serving prison time, Judge John Telleen ordered her to pay $39,000 in restitution and a $1,370 fine. Her sentence also includes 100 hours of community service.
If she successfully completes three years of probation, she will remain free. However, Judge John Telleen denied a request from the defense that would have cleared the conviction from her record upon the completion of her probation.
He said people should know Russo once engaged in a “criminal scheme,” and that “serious crimes must have serious consequences,” per the AP.
Madison Russo.GoFundMe
In October 2022, Russo, then a 19-year-old St. Ambrose University student, claimed in postings on various social media sites including TikTok and Facebook that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
She also spoke about her purported diagnosis to theNorth Scott Press. “I feel like I’ve been rocked to my soul, and right now, everything is kind of uncertain,” she told the Iowa newspaper. “I just want to know my game plan, and right now, I don’t know what that is.”
She claimed to have been given an 11% survival rate for five years. “At 19 years old, I don’t know if I will live to see the day I graduate from college, get married, or become a mom. In the meantime, I will fight,” she told theNorth Scott Press.
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Her claims began to unravel when medical professionals came forward to say they noticed “many medical discrepancies” in her story, according to the statement. Eldridge police subsequently subpoenaed Russo’s medical records and determined she had never been diagnosed with cancer at any medical facility in the Quad Cities area.
The police investigation also found that Russo “accepted private donations from other businesses, non-profit organizations, school districts and private citizens.”
During her court appearance on Friday, Russo said she concocted her false cancer diagnosis in an attempt to reconcile her family.
“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,” she said, per the AP. “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 also apologized to her victims. “I fully acknowledge what I did was wrong. And I’m incredibly sorry,” she said. “If there was anything I could do to take it back I would. The reality is I can’t.”
Scott County prosecutor Kelly Cunningham recommended against prison time because Russo had no prior criminal history, earned good grades in college, was employed and was unlikely to reoffend in the future, the AP reported.
“All donors have been refunded and we have removed this fundraiser,” the statement continued. “The beneficiary has also been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers. GoFundMe’s Giving Guarantee offers a full refund in the rare case when something isn’t right; this is the first and only donor protection guarantee in the fundraising industry.”
source: people.com
