KIRKSVILLE, Mo., April 2 (UPI) -- A Missouri graduate student has admitted faking cancer and pleaded guilty to forging a doctor's note that said she was being treated for the disease.
Victoria Ann Marut, 23, of St. Peters is to be sentenced June 3, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. But Adair County Prosecutor Matt Wilson says he will recommend probation as long as Marut makes restitution of any gifts and donations she received.
"It balances punishment and rehabilitation in order to keep our community safe," Wilson said. "You find a way to get to the heart of what caused that problem and how you're going to solve it."
Marut was a graduate student in education at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., when she shaved her head last fall and claimed to be under treatment for cancer. She was doing classroom work at an elementary school and the principal there asked for a doctor's note.
After Marut submitted the note, the principal checked with the doctor and discovered it was a forgery, investigators say.
