RIVERHEAD, N.Y., Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A woman in the Long Island suburbs of New York has admitted faking cancer to get donations she used to buy heroin, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Brittany Ozarowski, 22, of Medford is expected to be sentenced Monday to three years of probation including two years of inpatient and outpatient drug treatment, Newsday reported. She entered a guilty plea last Monday to a 24-count indictment charging her with grand larceny and many other crimes.
Prosecutors said Ozarowski's victims included her grandmother, who sold her house and gave her $100,000, and her father, who gave her his retirement savings. She also sought donations via Facebook and convinced businesses on Long Island to set up donation jars for her.
During Monday's hearing, Ozarowski's lawyers argued for "judicial diversion," while prosecutors said she deserved as much as seven years in prison. Suffolk County Judge John Iliou said he wanted to get a probation report before making a final decision but suggested he was inclined towards drug treatment.
Robert Clifford, a spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney, said Ozarowski will probably have to repay at least $10,000 and her probation will include a community service requirement. She will be sentenced to three years if she violates probation.
Prosecutors said Ozarowski was appealing for donations outside a supermarket when she was arrested in April. She was holding a jar that said she had bone and brain cancer.
"This office, considering the scope of her crime, the number of people she deceived and the repeated, willful deception she engaged in, strongly believes incarceration in an upstate correctional facility for up to seven years is a fair and just disposition," Clifford said.
