Woman who decided to commit fraud, told people she had cancer, did not stole a bunch of money, she avoids jail time. Put up the picture full mass here. Hell of a story. Madison Russo. Okay. Madison Russo, [00:00:16] an Iowa woman who pretended to have various forms of cancer, has been mandated by a judge to give back the money raised for her fraudulent battle with cancer, despite a GoFundMe [00:00:31] campaign where she talked about having a terminal illness. Multiple, by the way. Not just one, multiple illnesses. She garnered about $40,000 in straight cash, mostly from people on social media who are decent and good and actually give a damn. [00:00:50] She maintains. Now none of it was for money or attention. You see this? You see this, right? Okay, so she gets caught. [00:01:05] So Russo said in court the lie was to get her troubled family back together. So she masqueraded in a fake wig, doctored up pictures, and purchased medical equipment [00:01:24] that is also manipulation and fraud too. Russo, who at the time was an 18 year old freshman at St. Ambrose University, told people on TikTok, GoFundMe, Facebook, [00:01:40] and LinkedIn that she had pancreatic cancer, leukemia, a football sized tumor around her spine, documenting her battle in quotation with the dreaded diseases on her social media platforms, okay. [00:01:57] The ploy was actually exposed after 439 people, mostly strangers and cancer charities, poured in thousands of dollars in donations. According to the Eldridge Police Department, multiple witnesses with [00:02:13] medical experience noticed medical discrepancies in Russo's social media, like she was using the wrong kind of equipment for the cancer she claimed to have. They then contacted detectives to investigate the claim. Russo's medical records were then subpoenaed, and [00:02:32] they showed she had never been diagnosed with any kind of cancer or tumor from any medical facilities within the Quad Cities or surrounding cities. After being found out, the resident pleaded guilty in June of 2023 to first degree theft. [00:02:52] Now, obviously, they could have charged her with a whole lot more, but they decided to settle on this. On Friday, October 20, at a sentencing hearing in Scott County Courthouse, the judge, John Talene, gave Russo a ten year sentence and then suspended it. [00:03:07] I'm going to explain that in a moment. 100 hours of community service and a fine of $1,370. She was also ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution, talking about the money she stole with a suspended sentence, Russo will not serve time in jail as long as she meets the conditions by the judge. [00:03:25] Let me explain what this is. So this is an awesome power by judges, okay? Not used a lot. It's really rarely some judges go their whole tenure on the bench and don't use a suspended sentence ruling. [00:03:40] But it's basically saying, you get 10 years. 10 years, you go into jail 10 years, that's where you should be. 10 years for this crime. But because I've decided, based on factors I don't have to explain that you don't need those 10 years, I'm going to just suspend the sentence. [00:03:58] So on the docket, it still looks like I gave you 10 years, all right? So when you look up the record, it's going to say 10 years, but I suspended the 10 years I gave. So you serve zero time. [00:04:14] Her defense attorneys pushed to have her receive a deferred judgment, which would clear her record if she completed probation successfully. But the judge did not budge on that. He said it is important for people to know she is a felon, [00:04:30] that people should know she was a part of a criminal scheme, and that she must face the serious consequences of her crime. Some people who donated said in court they felt betrayed by her and the prosecutors for giving her such a light plea deal. [00:04:47] Others took to social media, suggesting she should have received a harder sentence. Quote, so if she refunds all the money she stole, she's left with a $1,000 fine, got off pretty darn easy. One person tweeted, the restitution has already been paid, and [00:05:05] the crowdfunding platform refunded the deceived owners. GoFundMe released a statement regarding Russo's actions. GoFundMe has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. The company said, literally, if you stole a candy bar out of Walmart, [00:05:24] you would get more time, because Walmart has a zero tolerance policy that prosecute every single person who steals. It's an adverse policy of course I can't stand it. I think it's wrong. But do you not find it ironic that this individual had such a massive plan? [00:05:44] She invested into the scheme by purchasing medical equipment. She then came up with a litany of variations of illnesses in order to play on the emotions of others who may have been adversely impacted by those things or may be part of charities that give money to leukemia, but not this. [00:06:02] Not pancreatic cancer. So she gets all of them together. It's extremely strategic and measured, and the judge basically gives her a $1,000 fine. All right, disaster thoughts here. >> Speaker 2: hey, if I had less of a moral compass or just like just less of a guilty conscience, I would have way more money, I think. [00:06:22] So jamal Bowman is facing six months for a thing that he did and he confessed to doing, and this person is committing fraud shamelessly and gets off with a fine. If her family is this dysfunctional, I guess I feel for them. [00:06:37] But that really doesn't excuse scamming innocent people of their money. And as you mentioned, whatever her intention was here, it's incredibly manipulative. I get that being manipulative isn't a criminal offense, but I don't like it. But seriously, though, we already have a shoddy health care system in this country, [00:06:53] one that often leads people to depend on the goodness and the goodwill of strangers to help them pay their medical bills. It's not a good system. It shouldn't be this way. But it is the way that people have learned to adapt and cope while we wait and see if our government wants to fund our health care with our own tax dollars. [00:07:11] Someone taking advantage of that goodness and goodwill is unforgivable, and it really shouldn't be encouraged. Her punishment should have been a lot more significant. >> Speaker 1: Yeah, and it erodes at the trust that people generally have when they see pictures like that. [00:07:27] GoFundMe opportunities. Now, those individuals may say, I'm not giving anymore online. And that harms the people who actually need it because they have a real illness. And like you just said, this system of health care is inadequate for them. [00:07:43] So she harms that process and those individuals who deserve it.