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ROY, Utah (AP) -- A woman who went door-to-door claiming to raise money for victims of the Crandall Canyon mine disaster instead used the cash to buy painkillers.
Hope Ellison, 25, was sentenced to 90 days in jail Wednesday.
"It was the drugs, your honor," defense attorney Bernie Allen told 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones.
Ellison collected $125 in Roy and forged documents to back her phony connection to the mining disaster, according to prosecutors.
"The word that came to my mind was tacky," the judge said.
Nine people died in August during two cave-ins at the central Utah mine.
Ellison has been in jail since Aug. 30 in lieu of $30,000 bail. She pleaded guilty to forgery Sept. 19.
"We get these cases whenever there's a national disaster. ... Disasters just bring out the best, and the worst, in people," Allen said.
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Information from: Standard-Examiner
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
