Virginia Woman Pleads No Contest in Fake-Cancer Scheme

A Virginia woman accused of faking cancer to raise money has pleaded no contest to fraud charges.

Media outlets report that Martha Ann Nicholas, 43, entered the pleas to welfare fraud and obtaining money under false pretenses Tuesday in Hanover Circuit Court.

Nicholas, of Mechanicsville, Va., had claimed at rallies that she was a cancer victim. Her attorney, Sam Simpson, said in February that she has made restitution of the $1,700 she had collected for herself.

She faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced in April.

Nicholas received a two-year suspended sentence in February 2012 after she was convicted of two counts of obtaining money by false pretenses. She was indicted on the latest charges in June 2012.

Her family said last year that she was receiving counseling.