CHULA VISTA, Calif. (KNX) – A woman forged multiple doctors' notes that claimed she had uterine cancer to stay out of prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
In November 2019, Ashleigh Lynn Chavez, 37, plead guilty to a conspiracy charge after she embezzled over $160,000 from a previous employer. Officials said the night before her sentencing, she wrote a fake doctors note that said a biopsy showed “cancerous cells” in her uterus.
She gave the note to her attorney – who thought the note was real – and then gave it to the prosecutor to get leniency in Chavez’ sentencing, federal officiaals said.
Despite being sentenced to a year and one day in prison, she was allowed to stay out of custody for three more months to get medical treatment.
Chavez then hired a new attorney and forged two more letters from two different San Diego-area doctors. The attorney, having believed Chavez had cancer, passed it along to the prosecutor and court.
The notes Chavez wrote posing as these doctors urged the court to “reconsider her sentencing” as “(a) year in prison could be a death sentence for my patient…”
When government representatives contacted the doctors, both doctors denied writing the letters.
Only one of the doctors said Chavez was a patient of theirs, while the other said he had no idea who she was.
Chavez will be sentenced on June 27. She is facing up to 10 addition years in prison.
“This defendant, already convicted of one fraud, worked for months to commit additional frauds on the federal court,” said U.S. Attorney Grossman. “While her dishonesty delayed payment of her debt to society, it will cost her still more time in prison.” Grossman thanked the prosecution team and the FBI for their excellent work on this case.
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