Thursday, 4:30 PM
Ex-teacher pleads guilty in cancer fraud case
By John R. Ellement, Globe staff
A former special education teacher pleaded guilty today to charges she bilked students, friends and her community out of thousands of dollars by falsely claiming she was being treated for a rare form of cancer, Bristol County District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr. said.
Heather Faria, 29, entered the guilty plea in Bristol County Superior Court this morning and will be sentenced at a later date, Walsh said.
Prosecutors will recomend a jail sentence of 2.5 years in state prison, he said. Faria claimed she had cancer and that all of her medical costs were not covered by insurance.
The fraud began in 2003 and lasted into 2005, Walsh said.
Students and staff at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School raised thousands of dollars, including pooling money in Christmas 2004 to pay for a last vacation to a Caribbean island.
Walsh said investigators discovered a photograph of Faria on that trip.
"She is chugging shots, dancing on a bar on a trip paid for by people who thought she wouldn't live long past Christmas so they wanted to give her one last vacation,'' Walsh said.
He said Faria spent the money on herself.
