TOWSON, Md., May 6 (UPI) -- A woman who admitted conning $10,000 from former Baltimore Ravens center Mike Flynn by pretending to have cancer has been spared a prison term.
Lisa Hoppenstein Cohen, 41, of Pikesville, Md., received a five-year suspended sentence Thursday, The Baltimore Sun reported. Baltimore County Circuit Judge John Turnbull II ordered her to spend three years on supervised probation and to repay Flynn and his wife.
Cohen apologized to the Flynns, who were at the hearing in Towson. She said "alcohol, pills and cocaine" contributed to her behavior. Turnbull gave her an additional six-month suspended sentence and 18 months probation for drunken driving.
In the courtroom, Cohen handed the Flynns $2,000.
Cohen became friends with the Flynns while living next door to them. Mary Flynn said she sometimes helped them with their children.
"This is a mother who would stand in front of a child and lie about needing a bone-marrow transplant," Mary Flynn told Turnbull.
