Octomom Pleads No Contest: Nadya Suleman Gets Probation, Community Service In Welfare Fraud Case
Nadya Suleman, known as Octomom, pleaded no contest in court Monday regarding the welfare fraud case against her. Suleman could have faced some very stiff consequences on this one, but instead she will get probation and community service.
Octomom pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of welfare fraud, according to the Los Angeles Times . Prosecutors alleged that she had failed to properly report her earnings so that she could collect welfare benefits for her 14 children. Of course, Suleman is known by many as Octomom because she gave birth to octuplets, and the single mom already had six children before the birth of the eight.
Suleman originally faced four felony charges in the case, including charges of welfare fraud and perjury. She has apparently paid back more than $26,000 of the aid she received, and now she must perform 200 hours of community service. Nadya will also be on probation for two years.
As TMZ notes, much of the case revolved around Sulemans failure to disclose about $25,000 in earnings from a raunchy video she had made. The money she paid back went to Medi-Cal to the tune of $9,805 and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services in the amount of $16,481. Apparently the approach of reducing the felony charge to a misdemeanor is common when the person involves pays the money back.
Nadya Suleman has faced many accusations regarding her finances and parenting since having the octuplets, and chances are there will be more incidents alleged in the future. Not only has the welfare fraud case put her in the spotlight, former nannies have alleged neglect toward the children as well. At this point there have been investigations into her situation, but nothing has moved forward.
Just how did Suleman pay back the money? According to The Associated Press via ABC News , she got a little help from some friends. Nadyas attorney Arthur J. LaCilento said , We could have litigated, there were a lot of issues we could have raised, but she wanted to resolve this case quickly and not go through a public ordeal. Had she not repaid the money and been convicted of the felony charges, Suleman could have faced six years in jail. However, prosecutors always indicated that they wanted to put together a plea deal so she could continue to raise her children.
What comes next now that Octomom pleaded no contest to the welfare fraud charges? Hopefully she will find a legitimate way to earn a living that allows her to take proper care for her 14 children without relying on public assistance or adult industry opportunities.
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Suleman has to be one of the creepiest humans on the planet.
(sorry about the space between the headline and the article)
Oh yeah, good old Octo Mom is back in the news!!
You can go to edit and clean it up.
She's missing a few marbles.
Thanks Grump. I tried it before and all I got was that weird printed stuff.
I'm not a fan of octomom by any stretch... but 26K for 14 kids probably barely pays the grocery bill for a year.
Seems like a lot of crying over not much.
And this sentence seems laughable to me...
How is a mother of 14 children going to earn a living outside of playing off the "freakshow lifestyle" that she is playing on in order to get into rags like TMZ?
Ten bucks says she paid TMZ to put her back in the paper. I can't imagine her living without the support of the public as either a pariah or a celeb.
I was wondering how she could support all of those children with out help AND have a job also
I am not a fan of hers either.
I hope none of her children EVER see this!!
She made the decision to have these babies.
I wonder if she lost her marbles the same way I did. It was awful. And horrible, too.
I'm sure she really could not care less. She's in it for herself, not the kids.
I think so too.
I'm sure it was..
I am a hermit. I don't have cable. I've never seen any of that stuff. Poor me.