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Woman Admits to Cancer Scam to Fund Heroin Habit

Brittany Ozarowski
Brittany Ozarowski (Suffolk DA Office)
Brittany Ozarowski (Suffolk DA Office)

A woman has admitted that she pretended to have cancer to collect donations from Long Island businesses that she used to fund her heroin habit last year through her arrest in April.

Brittany Ozarowski pleaded guilty Wednesday at Suffolk County court to all charges in a 24-count indictment including forgery, grand larceny, scheme to defraud and offering a false instrument for filing.

Prosecutors have said the 21-year-old Miller Place woman convinced business owners to allow her to place jars in their establishments to collect donations for her treatment of various forms of cancer, including bone and brain cancer, stomach cancer, thyroid cancer and ovarian cancer.

The scam unraveled when donors began offering to help with doctors’ appointments and inquiring why she hadn’t lost her hair to chemotherapy.

Ozarowski, who faced up to seven years in prison, is expected to be sentenced to a drug treatment plan for up to two years, two years probation and will be ordered to pay $10,000 restitution, The Associated Press reported.

She is due back in court Monday.