Fake cancer claim draws prison term

CHICAGO, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A suburban Chicago woman has been sentenced to prison for trying to avoid a trial on theft charges by pretending she had cancer.

Karen Johnson, 44, of Woodridge, was convicted of forging a doctor's note saying she had ovarian cancer. She was also found guilty of stealing more than $16,000 from the DuPage County investment firm where she worked, the (Arlington Heights,Ill.) Daily Herald reported Wednesday.

A DuPage County judge sentenced Johnson to three years in prison on the theft charge and another three years for forgery.

The Daily Herald said at least two other Chicago area women have wound up in trouble with the law for concocting fake cancer tales.

Josette Hamilton of Elmhurst was sentenced to six months in jail last April for making up a cancer diagnosis to gain gifts and $34,000 in cash from her community.

In 2005, a Bloomingdale woman, Ellen Day, tried to avoid being sentenced to prison for obstruction of justice by claiming she was dying of liver, breast and colon cancer.

Prosecutors discovered the truth and the judge sentenced her to two years in jail.