Last updated on November 13, 2015
UPDATE: On Friday, Joanna Leigh pleaded guilty to all the counts against her. A Superior Court judge sentenced her to one year in prison and suspended it to three years of probation, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
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Jamaica Plain’s Joanna Leigh, 41, who pleaded not guilty to five counts of larceny and one count of making a false claim to a government agency this spring, is scheduled to be back in court on Friday morning. Prosecutors allege the Jamaica Plain woman raked in nearly $40,000 in cash and services by faking injury in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Back in March when she pleaded guilty, the judge released Leigh without bail, but ordered her to give up her passport, be booked by Boston Police and not travel out of the region without telling the court.
She has told the Globe the charges are a result of her public criticism of the One Fund.
Leigh claims to have run toward the scene after hearing the first bomb, but investigators say she was actually blocks away from the explosions. Leigh said she suffered brain damage, hearing loss and is experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In the summer of 2014, the JP resident’s service dog went missing, sparking a hunt that was among our most-read stories of that year.
Prosecutors say she cheated people out of money in several ways, including a GoFundMe page named “Joanna Leigh – Boston Hero” that raised more than $9,000. The page was taken down, but not before we took a screen grab (image attached to this story). While the page was written in the third person, prosecutors allege it was written and kept up from Leigh’s personal email address.
“At a time when most people were asking how they could help, others were wondering how they could benefit,” Suffolk County District Attorney said in a March press release. “Every dollar at issue in this case was taken from someone who truly deserved it.”
In the spring, Leigh’s lawyer told the Globe his client wanted to “let the jury decide.”
Leigh told the Washington Post she was about 10 feet away from the second bomb when it exploded.
Prosecutors and police say Leigh was at the Marathon that day, but was not injured.
The One Fund paid Leigh $8,000, the going rate for victims who received only outpatient treatment. Leigh asked for a payout of $2 million but refused to let the charity see her medical records, prosecutors said.