LOGAN, Utah — A Logan woman who pleaded guilty to fraud for faking a terminal illness and soliciting thousands of dollars in donations was given her sentence Tuesday.
Lesley Jensen has been ordered to pay $27,000 in restitution and spend a year in jail for defrauding citizens of the city of Nibley.
“What she’s done is a great big lie, and that lie has just rifted through our community,” said Cache County Attorney James Swink.
Logan police said Jensen pretended that she had Grade 4 Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and used the ruse to raise money. One of the fundraisers was held on November 3, 2014 at Cafe Sabor, a Logan restaurant where Jensen worked as a server. Some of Jensen’s fellow servers donated their tips in her name to an organization called Cache Valley for Hope Foundation.
“She was a good employee and friend to us here at Cafe Sabor. It was, we were saddened by the news and shocked as sure everyone else was,” said Skler Parkhurst, a Manager at Cafe Sabor, in an interview last year.
Donations were also made to an organization called Cache County Cares for Cancer. A GoFundMe.com page was also used to raise at least $3,040 for Jensen before it was taken down.
