Woman admits she lied about cancer

A Gardnerville woman said she was looking for sympathy and attention when she told people she was dying of cancer.

Erika Williams, 33, admitted to a charge of obtaining money under false pretenses in Dougls County District Court. She faces a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

"I wasn't looking for money," she told District Judge Michael Gibbons. "I was looking for sympathy and attention."

Williams is accused of revealing that she had a deadly form of cancer.

"It was a downhill progression from there," she said. "I told the people in my church I was sorry and asked them for their forgiveness."

District Attorney Mark Jackson told Gibbons that Williams received more than money from the scam.

"She received services and labor," he said. "She had people cleaning her house, cleaning out her kitty litter box. She had people drive her to doctors' appointments and when they got there, she would go down to the cafeteria."

Defense attorney Tod Young said Williams used the $3,785 to go on vacation when she was supposed to be going for treatment.

"She didn't set out to have people fund her life," he said. "But she found people who were sympathetic and who were willing to act on that sympathy. She's very remorseful. Some of her supporters accept that she has issues, though not cancer."

Gibbons set a Dec. 15 sentencing date after accepting her guilty plea. Young said Williams was not seeking to make bail before sentencing.

Williams was originally charged with four counts of theft and the count to which she pleaded.

Williams told people she had a fast-growing cancer, shaving her head and inserting a feeding tube to perpetuate the lie.

She was arrested Sept. 11 after some of the people she lied to discovered the truth.