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LOGAN — A Cache County woman who faked having brain cancer and accepted money from charities was sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to complete 500 hours of community service for a cancer foundation.
Lesley Jensen, 27, could be seen trembling Tuesday as 1st District Judge Brian Cannell sentenced her to one year in the Cache County Jail, even though prosecutors had requested she get prison time.
“A prison sentence would have been very appropriate. The judge handing down a year in the county jail is still a substantial amount of time,” said Cache County Attorney James Swink.
“The judge gave her a harsher sentence than you would expect most people to have received with those exact same conditions," said Jensen's attorney, Greg Skordas. "So it wasn’t a light sentence by any means, but it wasn’t nearly as harsh as what the state and the Office of Adult Probation and Parole were requesting.”
The judge also ordered that Jensen serve 500 hours of community service in a cancer foundation.
That surprised prosecutors, but Swink said he believes it will be a time when she can at least try to regain the trust of the community.
“Five hundred hours again is a substantial amount of time that she’s going to have to think about what she has done for every one of those hours,” Swink said.
Skordas said Jensen has been very sincere in wanting to pay restitution. Her family recently sold her home, all of her belongings, even her clothing in a garage sale to pay restitution, but the total amount she'll have to pay back is about $27,500. She's paid about $5,800 so far, the attorney said.
“When she gets out of jail, she will have nothing,” Skordas said. “That was her intention. That was her plan for herself was to give up everything she had for what she had done.”
Five hundred hours again is a substantial amount of time that she's going to have to think about what she has done for every one of those hours.
–Cache County Attorney James Swink
Jensen made a brief statement in court: "I want to say that I am deeply saddened and ashamed of my actions. And I want to apologize to you and publicly apologize to everyone I've hurt. And I'd like to take full accountability and accept the consequences of what I've done. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to change the direction of my life."
The one-year sentence in jail applies only if Jensen pays full restitution. If not, she'll get the maximum sentence for those two felony charges, which is one to 15 years in state prison.
In February, Jensen, pleaded guilty to four charges as part of a plea agreement with Cache County prosecutors: two counts of communication fraud, a second-degree felony; and two counts of forgery, a third-degree felony.
In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop three counts of communication fraud and two counts of forgery.
Jensen claimed she suffered from advanced stage glioblastoma — the same aggressive form of brain cancer that right-to-die activist Brittany Maynard had.
The Logan community rallied around Jensen, holding a fundraiser for her Nov. 5 at Cafe Sabor, a restaurant where she had worked for eight years. Dozens of employees worked for free during the fundraiser and about $17,000 was raised.
After the event, Jensen told reporters she was choosing to live for her 6-year-old daughter.
“I hope the sentence today will bring some healing to community and the victims, knowing that this type of behavior will not be tolerated,” Swink said.
