Cancer-Faking B.C. Woman Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Tina Michele Sammons bilked her relatives out of more than $350,000.

Well, that’s one way to make a living. Sammons, an American by birth, would call up her in-laws in the middle of the night and tell them she needed money for a liver transplant or heart surgery, claiming she wasn’t covered by Canadian health insurance. In 20 months she extracted $350,000 from them, which she blew on casinos and hotels while telling people she was away receiving medical treatment. She also faked seizures, shaved her head, and cut herself to make it look like she had had surgery. Thursday she was sentenced to three years in prison, and the judge rejected her husband’s plea to let her serve her time at home to look after the couple’s five-year-old daughter.