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JP woman admits lying to get Marathon bombing money

Joanna Leigh, 41, of Jamaica Plain, today pleaded guilty to five counts of larceny over $250 by false pretenses for accepting almost $40,000 in cash and other benefits intended for survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings even though she was not near the explosions.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Peter Krupp gave Leigh a one-year suspended jail sentence for trying to put one over on everybody from government officials to students at a Mattapan school, who were moved by her accounts of the head injuries she actually didn't sustain.

In addition to not going to jail, Leigh has to pay full restitution, perform 300 hours of community service and undergo a mental-health evaluation, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, which had urged actual prison time for her. In a statement, DA Dan Conley said:

This defendant exploited the compassion of people and agencies who wanted to help those in need. Every dollar she received was stolen from someone who truly deserved it.

According to the DA's office, Leigh did attend a viewing party near the Marathon finish line on April 15, 2013, but had left the area and was on Fairfield Street when the bombs went off.

She was not injured and did not seek medical treatment until about two weeks later, when she claimed to have suffered a traumatic brain injury running toward the second blast site to help the wounded.

Specifically, the evidence would have shown, Leigh obtained:

  • About $900 in cosmetic dermatology services for facial redness - a procedure she had already undergone at least once prior to the bombings;
  • About $9,350 through a GoFundMe page she created, using another person’s name and likeness to suggest that she was badly injured in the bombing and not receiving assistance;
  • About $18,000 in cash and services through the Massachusetts Victims of Violent Crime Compensation program;
  • About $1,850 in cash through a fundraiser held by students and faculty at the Mildred Avenue Middle School in Mattapan who believed she was a Marathon bombing victim; and
  • $8,000 through the One Fund, which was created to assist those who were injured and the families of those who were killed in the bombings, waging a campaign accusing the charity of malfeasance when it sought the medical records necessary to categorize her in the same group as those who were killed, underwent double amputations, or suffered permanent brain damage.

The evidence would also have shown that she altered, misrepresented, and sought to amend her medical records to bolster her false claim.

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Comments

That's all. Something to let her know she screwed up.

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Domunique Grace gets 3 years, as does his brother. They tried to get $2M.

Nevertheless, if you try to steal a dime or the hundreds of dollars I have managed to save over a lifetime from me I am going to hit you back. Money is money. A crime is a crime. She was indicted on nearly the same charges as the guys who tried for $2M.

Why isn't she in jail? A little time in South Framingham is only fair.

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I know she has to repay the money but my jaw dropped when I heard no jail time. Honestly...the idea that a bunch of little kids in mattapan raised money so she could treat her wrinkles or whatever. Shameful.

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But because he is a well connected lawyer in the Democratic party down in the Norwalk area, no DA or the AG will go against him. Its been hard enough for my friend to find any lawyer to take him on civilly to get back the money he stole from her mother with dementia.

So, not just white women getting off.

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I'm admittedly no lawyer but the dollar amount makes a difference does it not? Yes, stealing is stealing, but what is the difference in punishment between stealing a Coke and stealing a car? Quite different. I agree she should have gotten jail time but I think the dollar amount makes a difference here, not just the fact she was a "white girl."

Conversely, is skin color all anyone looks at anymore? Just curious.

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And I could be wrong since I was too lazy to verify this.

The South End pair went to trial and were convicted. This is a plea deal. This faker (and/or her lawyer) saw the writing on the wall and took this to avoid a trip to the greater Sherborn area.

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A month or two of jail would have been nice. And her community service hours better be spent with actual victims of a brain injury.

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Show some mercy!

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She seemed like she knew what she was doing. What are the chances this wasn't her first time attempting to scam a person, charity, or business?

Jail would have sent a nice message that you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't avoid prison all the time.

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to have a lot of delusions around helping others, while helping herself.

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Chris Faraone used this woman's story to claim that BPD and the FBI were harassing her. he will admit error right?

http://50.56.238.19/boston-news-opinions/2014/10/insult-to-injury-the-ha...

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