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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A West Jordan woman has pleaded guilty to felony charges that she accepted thousands of dollars in donations from community members she had led to believe that she was dying of cancer.
Tania Clark, 33, the wife of a Drug Enforcement Agency agent, appeared Thursday in 3rd District Court for a preliminary hearing but instead accepted a plea deal.
Clark allegedly told family, neighbors, friends and parents of her sons' hockey league that she was dying of a rare form of cancer. To back up her story, Clark allegedly produced a letter from a physician in Houston, Texas, who could not be found.
Members of the Timpanogos Amateur Hockey Association, which Clark's two sons played in, donated $1,000. Through the "Coins for Caring" program, students at Oakcrest Elementary School raised more than $6,000 for Clark's alleged plight, according to court documents.
Clark's neighbors also gave her more than $5,000. Some offered to donate their own bone marrow to help her.
Clark admitted in court Thursday to deceiving her friends and accepting donated funds.
She pleaded guilty to second-degree felony theft by deception and third-degree felony attempted theft by deception. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed three other felony theft counts.
Clark's attorney, Coleen Coburn, said while Clark did accept more than $5,000 in funds donated by neighbors, the "Coins for Caring" funds went directly to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and she had no access to those funds.
Clark is to be sentenced Sept. 12. She faces similar charges in Utah County for donations given there.
Prosecutors have also charged her husband, Jeff James Clark, an active agent with the DEA, with three counts of theft by deception, a second-degree felony, and three third-degree counts of forgery.
According to the prosecution, Jeff Clark remains on active duty with the DEA since being charged last May. A call to the DEA regional office in Denver was not returned Thursday.
Jeff Clark is due to make a court appearance on the pending charges Aug. 4.
Tania Clark declined comment outside of court.
Second-degree felonies are punishable by one to 15 years in prison and third-degree felonies are punishable by zero to five years in prison.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
