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Woman who made fake cancer claims on social media must pay restitution_我的网站

一 |     DAVENPORT, Iowa -- An Iowa woman who falsely claimed to have cancer and documented her “battle” on social media will stay out of prison after a judge gave her probation and a suspended sentence.Madison Russo, 20, never had pancreatic cancer, leukemia nor the football-sized tumor wrapped around her spine she that claimed in postings on TikTok, GoFundMe, Facebook and LinkedIn. But over 400 people sent her donations. As part of the 10-year suspended sentence handed down Friday, she was ordered to pay $39,000 in restitution and a $1,370 fine. If she stays out of trouble for three years of probation, she'll stay free.The Bettendorf woman pleaded guilty in June to first-degree theft. In court on Friday, Judge John Telleen declined a defense request that would have wiped the conviction off her record if she completes probation successfully. He said people who deal with her in the future should know that she once engaged in a “criminal scheme,” and that “serious crimes must have serious consequences.”“Through this scheme, you deceived your friends, your family, your community, other cancer victims, charities and strangers who were motivated by your supposedly tragic story to donate to help support you,” the judge said.Russo told the court she made her story up because she hoped her fake cancer battle would force her troubled family to focus on her.“A lot of people have made speculation as to why I did this and how somebody who looked like they had everything together could have such a mess,” she said. “I didn't do this for money or greed. I didn't do this for attention. I did this as an attempt to get my family back together.”Her sentence also includes 100 hours of community service. She paid the $39,000 restitution earlier, and the money was being held by the court. GoFundMe has already sent refunds to donors.Her scam unraveled when medical professionals spotted discrepancies in her story online. Police subpoenaed her medical records and found she had never been diagnosed with cancer at any medical facility in the area. She was arrested in January.Scott County prosecutor Kelly Cunningham recommended against prison time because Russo had no criminal history, had good grades in college, was employed and was unlikely to reoffend. That bothered Rhonda Miles, who runs a pancreatic cancer foundation in Nashville, Tennessee, that donated to Russo and testified at the hearing.“It was devastating to sit there and watch the Scott County prosecuting attorney act like a defending attorney, so that was tough,” Miles said. “And I think she’ll have a lot of questions to answer from the locals on that at some point. Why were you defending this girl when you were supposed to be prosecuting?”Russo apologized to the court and her victims, and said she wished she had sought out help regarding her family.“I fully acknowledge what I did was wrong. And I'm incredibly sorry," she said through sobs. "If there was anything I could do to take it back I would. The reality is I can't.”。    (ECNS) -- Offshore duty-free sales in south China's Hainan Province totaled 21.6 billion yuan (about $3 billion) in the first seven months of 2026, up 17.9% year on year, according to data released by Haikou Customs on Wednesday.    The number of shoppers reached 3.111 million, up 11.9%, and 17.653 million items were purchased, up 6.9%, the data showed.        The 27th Hainan Island Carnival was held across the province from July 18 to August 2. During the carnival, major shopping districts, scenic spots and duty-free shops in Hainan rolled out night markets and themed pop-up events, with several concerts by well-known singers held simultaneously.    To capitalize on the influx of visitors, several duty-free shops in Sanya launched exclusive benefits during the concert periods, including free shuttle buses, special discounts, fan-exclusive coupons and branded blind box gifts. These initiatives created new consumption scenarios that integrated live experiences with the broader "culture + tourism + duty-free" ecosystem.    With the deepening of Hainan's Free Trade Port operations and the continued expansion of international flight routes, a growing number of overseas tourists have joined the shopping boom. The "Sanya-Prague" route is China's first passenger route operating under Seventh Freedom of the Air rights.    Since its launch last December, the route has been in stable operation for more than six months.    Anna, a traveler from the Czech Republic, purchased a beauty gift set and Chinese tea at the Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex. She said it is hard to find such a wide variety of products in the Czech Republic, and the prices are also more affordable than in Europe.    "With more students traveling to and from Hainan during the summer break, we have timely added products popular among students, such as cosmetics, luggage and electronics, and launched various promotions to improve their shopping satisfaction," said Zhong Shihua, a sales manager at the Global Premium (Haikou) Duty Free City.    (By Tang Yuxian)                    。

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