Crime & Safety

Woman Pleads Guilty to LI-Wide Cancer Scam

Brittany Ozarowski will undergo drug treatment for tricking residents into giving her thousands of dollars that went to her heroin habit.

Brittany Ozarowski pleaded guilty Monday to pretending to have cancer in order to solicit thousands of dollars from people throughout Long Island.

Ozarowski pled guilty to a 24-count indictment including charges of grand larceny and forgery, a spokesman for the Suffolk County district attorney told the Associated Press. Prosecutors tried to seek a prison term of up to seven years, but a judge has agreed to have her enter a drug treatment program for as much as two years. She will also pay more than $10,000 in restitution. George Duncan, Ozarowski’s defense attorney, said that in the report that she is “extremely remorseful and welcomes drug treatment.”

Ozarowski, formerly of Selden but living out of a Medford motel at the time of her arrest, was originally arrested April 1 at the Sayville Stop and Shop location on Montauk Highway.

She had placed collection jars at many businesses in Suffolk and Nassau counties, and reportedly raised over $10,000 in 13 months, the Suffolk DA said in April.

Instead of cancer treatments, the money collected went toward Ozarowski’s heroin habit, police and prosecutors said.

Many Patch readers throughout Suffolk County have said that they were tricked into giving Ozarowski money.

“I actually have the flyer she gave out when she and "her mother" stood there asking for money to help her with her treatment costs. She looked so sickly and her mom looked so sad,” Wendy Liu, a resident who gave Ozarowski $20 at the Medford Stop and Shop, told Patch after learning of the arrest in April. “I handed over $20 quickly and wished her and her mom luck and continued to shop with tears in my eyes. I never considered it to be a scam. What a kick in the teeth!.”

Ozarowski even had a website and Paypal account to solicit online donations.

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Did you see Brittany Ozarowski or her tip jars while shopping local businesses? What are your thoughts on the guilty plea? Talk about it in the comments below this post.


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