Listeners had been left shook when the 2023 Scamanda podcast uncovered mom-of-two Amanda Riley for spending seven years faking a battle with most cancers to obtain cash and sympathy from others. Now, the story is coming to the small display in a brand new docuseries of the identical title.
The docuseries will “unravel the story of California native Amanda Riley, a younger spouse, mom and religious Christian whose life all of a sudden takes a horrible flip when she is identified with Stage 3 blood most cancers. Amanda begins documenting her battle on-line, charming hundreds, however she has a secret that she is dying to maintain. Her story modifications from inspiration to suspicion when somebody sends an nameless tip to investigative producer Nancy Moscatiello, who then embarks on a five-year-long investigation into Amanda,” in line with a press launch from ABC.
Scroll down for all the pieces we find out about Riley’s scenario and the place she is right now.
The place is Amanda Riley now?
Riley is within the midst of serving a five-year jail sentence at Federal Medical Heart Carswell in Fort Price, Texas. She started her sentence in September 2022. The penitentiary homes inmates with medical wants, together with bodily disabilities or diseases, in addition to psychological diseases.
Along with 5 years in jail, Riley was additionally sentenced to a few years of supervised probation and should pay restitution plus curiosity to 349 individuals who donated cash amid her most cancers rip-off.
What did Amanda Riley do?
In 2012, Riley began the weblog Lymphoma Can Suck It, detailing how she was allegedly combating Hodgkin’s lymphoma (blood most cancers). Her weblog posts went viral, with commenters desirous to understand how they might assist or donate to her medical care. By on-line donations alone, Riley raised $105,513.43, along with an unknown quantity from different in-person donations within the type of money, checks, free journeys, memorabilia, and extra.
As her recognition grew, Riley continued posting on her weblog, detailing an alleged relapse the place she claimed the lymphoma unfold into her lungs. Whereas she claimed to be going by way of therapy, she additionally obtained pregnant together with her second little one, garnering much more sympathy from others.
Nonetheless, it was finally uncovered that Riley by no means had most cancers in any respect. She posted pretend images, together with pictures that confirmed her with a shaved head, on her weblog and conjured up pretend hospital visits to maintain up her ruse for practically eight years. In the meantime, the cash that was coming in was used to fund her personal way of life.
How was Amanda Riley caught?
The reality about what was actually happening with Riley was uncovered after Moscatiello, a longtime TV producer and the eventual host of the Scamanda podcast, acquired an nameless tip urging her to look into Riley’s weblog. After years of investigating and gathering proof, she turned in what she discovered to a detective within the monetary crimes unit on the San Jose, California, Police Division in 2015.
The knowledge was flagged to the Inner Income Service (IRS) in early 2016, which led to a raid of Riley’s dwelling. Nonetheless, no additional motion was taken at that time.
ABC/YouTube
When Riley discovered she was being investigated by Moscatiello, she tried to file a restraining order towards her in 2017, however a decide dominated towards it. Moscatiello continued gathering proof towards Riley, which she handed over to the police division and IRS.
Riley was formally charged with wire fraud in July 2020, particularly based mostly on the donations that had been made on-line. She pleaded not responsible, however switched her plea in October 2021. Regardless of an emotional plea to the court docket and her lawyer’s request that she solely obtain six months behind bars, a decide issued a five-year sentence.
“Listening to you right now I can solely think about what a great act you had for eight years in entrance of church buildings, neighborhood teams, and in your weblog and on-line and along with your youngsters,” the decide mentioned. “It breaks my coronary heart to suppose that your boys is not going to have their mom with them, however it was your duty earlier than you dedicated these frauds to consider your parental obligations. It isn’t the court docket’s job to scrub that up for you.”
The place is Amanda Riley’s husband Cory now?
Riley shared two youngsters together with her husband, Cory Riley. Right now, the three of them reside in Austin, Texas, the place they moved from California, in line with The New York Publish.
It’s unclear if Cory knew that his spouse had been faking most cancers. He was not charged with any crimes as a result of prosecutors weren’t in a position to show past a shadow of a doubt that he knew she was mendacity.
ABC/YouTube
Nonetheless, Cory’s daughter from a earlier relationship, Jessa, mentioned on the Scamanda podcast that she felt her dad had an thought about what was happening. “He was very … I wish to say ‘not himself,’ however I believe I don’t actually know who he’s as an individual,” Jessa, who’s now an grownup, admitted. “He form of simply seemed numb on a regular basis.” She additionally added, “They’d take us to the hospital, virtually to form of show there was one thing improper together with her.”
The San Jose detective concerned within the case additionally mentioned he felt like Cory “knew what was happening.” Jessa has not seen her father “for a very long time,” she revealed.
Scamanda, Premiere, Thursday, January 30, 9/8c, ABC