Woman Faked Breast Cancer
Wednesday, March 10, 2010 11:29 AM

A Tennessee woman has plead guilty to charges of theft and forgery after she lied about having breast cancer. And she's not the only one.

Coworkers were concerned about 39 year old Keele Maynor from Chattanooga, TN when she told them that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was a city employee and accepted donations of sick leave time, as well as financial donations from cancer groups. This would have all been fine, if it were true.



Model PhotoMaynor went so far as to say that her cancer was terminal and had spread to her kidneys and lungs and maintained a blog chronicling her health issues. It is estimated that Maynor accepted over $87,000 worth of assistance from coworkers, the city, and cancer groups. She will be sentenced in May, but will not serve more than six years in prison. She is currently out on bond and prosecutors are trying to determine what restitution is owed.

In a similar story, Trista Joy Lathern of central Texas told her coworkers that she had breast cancer, and no health insurance to pay for the extensive chemotherapy treatments. Out of concern for her and her family, the community rallied. Coworkers donated time off to her so that she could seek treatment and there was a benefit held in her honor, during which $10,000 was raised. There was only one thing wrong - she never had breast cancer.

It all started when she lied to her husband, claiming that she had breast cancer, in an effort to reportedly find sympathy and repair her struggling marriage. It would seem that the lie snowballed from there. The 24 year old Lathern even went so far as to shave her head to make it appear as though it had fallen out due to her cancer treatments.

In August, more than 100 people showed up at Waco’s Hog Creek Icehouse Saloon to participate in an all-day benefit organized to raise funds for Lathern's treatment. After collecting an estimated $10,000, Lathern went to a local cosmetic surgeon to inquire about breast augmentation. The physician was alarmed because he'd heard about the fundraiser, and Lathern didn't mention anything about cancer during her consultation. The physician contacted his lawyer who in turn contacted local authorities. In the meantime, Lathern traveled to Austin, TX and had breast augmentation performed there. Trista was arrested on November 4, 2009