An Aurora woman who received tens of thousands of dollars and a free trip to Disneyland after pretending her six-year-old son had cancer was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail and five years probation.
According to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Sandy Thi Nguyen, 29, of Aurora, told people her family was in severe debt because of her son’s treatments; at one point, officials said, she said she became pregnant in order create a perfect match for stem cell treatment for her child.
Nguyen also reportedly told her son that he had cancer and was dying, adding that he got his chemotherapy at night when he was asleep. She would shave his head before he went to school, prosecutors said.
Between April 2012 and March 2014, a number of fundraisers were held for Nguyen’s son, who officials said was the victim in the case.
School and local community held fundraisers to help the defendant’s family raise money for the victim’s cancer treatments. A 5K run/walk at Piney Creek Hollow Park on Oct. 6, 2013 raised $7,767.90. In addition, a fundraiser where students brought in quarters and change raised a total of $18,405.46. Over 600 students at Rolling Hills Elementary School participated in the school fundraising efforts.
The scheme was exposed in March.
The defendant worked as a hair stylist at a local salon and it was during one of her shifts that a doctor overheard the defendant talking about the child’s cancer treatments at Children’s Hospital in Denver. The doctor worked at Children’s and grew concerned as she knew all the patients in the Oncology Unit but did not know the defendant’s child. A co-worker of the defendant called law enforcement concerned that the family was receiving large sums of money from donations.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office investigated and found that the defendant did not have any medical bills for the victim as the family was enrolled in Medicaid. Investigators found all the remaining money in the defendant’s home in a lockbox.
Nguyen pleaded guilty in September to one count of charitable fraud – scheme to defraud and one count of child abuse.
