為了一場完美婚禮和加勒比海島蜜月之旅，美國紐約州一名女子假裝成癌癥末期患者騙取了周圍好心人1.3萬多美元的資助。日前，這名女子剛剛服完8周的刑期出獄，她還須將騙來的資金如數還給那些好心人，完成300小時的社區服務，另需監外察看五年。據悉，這名女子現年25歲，2010年5月利用好心人的資助與丈夫舉行婚禮并且赴南加勒比海的阿魯巴島度蜜月。之后，這名女子的丈夫聯系當地一家報紙揭露其假裝癌癥患者騙錢的行為，兩人隨即離婚，男方未被起訴。

Jessica Vega, 25, pleaded guilty last month to fraud and forgery charges for deceiving people in the Hudson Valley area of New York into thinking she had only a few months to live. (Agencies)

A New York bride who faked having terminal cancer to swindle well-wishers into funding her dream wedding and honeymoon to the Caribbean on Wednesday was ordered to repay more than $13,000 to her victims, prosecutors said.

Jessica Vega, 25, pleaded guilty last month to fraud and forgery charges for deceiving people in the Hudson Valley area of New York into thinking she had only a few months to live, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said. Moved by her tale, individuals and businesses donated thousands of dollars to pay for her wedding in May 2010 and her honeymoon in Aruba.

Her scheme unraveled after her husband, Michael O'Connell, contacted the Times Herald-Record in Orange County to say his bride had faked her illness. He was not charged, and the couple have since divorced, although the Times Herald-Record reported he was there to pick her up from jail on Wednesday.

"To prey on people's emotions by pretending to have a terminal illness is unconscionable," Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement. "I am pleased that the community members, who felt so compelled to generously help a neighbor in need, will be given back their hard-earned money."

Besides repaying $13,368.48 to her victims, Vega was sentenced to time already served in jail, must do 300 hours of community service and serve five years on probation. She spent eight weeks in jail before her release on Wednesday.

Vega agreed to hand over the money to repay the nine known victims ahead of her sentencing on Wednesday in the hope of receiving a more lenient sentence, and the checks are due to be sent out to her victims over the coming week, a spokeswoman for the attorney general said.

An attorney for Vega did not immediately respond to queries.

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(Agencies)

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）