Mom sent to prison for fraud

AKWESASNE — An Akwesasne woman will spend 1 ½ to three years in state prison for pretending her toddler had cancer and collecting donations for the child.

Jennifer Jackson-Laughing was sentenced Friday, on her 35th birthday, on a charge of first-degree scheming to defraud.

Franklin County Court Judge Robert G. Main Jr. also ordered her to pay $8,470 in restitution.

Jackson-Laughing and her husband, Frank W. Laughing Jr., were arrested in June 2010 for allegedly soliciting donations on behalf of their daughter, saying she had colon cancer.

They apparently placed donation cans at businesses in the community, and people held two silent auctions and a dance to raise money for the child, whose parents said she needed extensive medical treatments.

The Laughings also posted medical updates about the girl on Facebook.

But the child was actually healthy.

St. Regis Mohawk Police investigated after receiving a complaint from a community member, and the pair were arrested for first-degree scheming to defraud, third-degree grand larceny and endangering the welfare of a child.

Mr. Laughing was also charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument for allegedly having falsified medical papers.

But the charges against him have been reduced to misdemeanor counts — third-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and second-degree scheming to defraud, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

The outcome of his case was pending the conclusion of his wife’s case, officials said, and Mr. Laughing will appear in Bombay Town Court at a future date.