Blue Springs Woman Heading To Prison For Charity Scam

JACKSON— Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that a Blue Springs resident is going to prison for attempting to profit off the murder of a Panola County teenager by using the murder as a way to fraudulently collect donations.

Janet Lee Posey, 41, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of false pretense before Union County Circuit Court Judge John A. Gregory.  Posey was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three of those years suspended, leaving seven years to serve. Judge Gregory ordered her to serve three years of post-release supervision and pay $1,433 in court costs.

Posey

Posey was arrested in December 2014 by investigators with the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division and the Union County Sheriff’s Office following an investigation that revealed Posey had started a fraudulent internet scam after the murder of 19-year-old Jessica Chambers. The investigation revealed that Posey attempted to collect donations for the family without their consent or knowledge.

“This defendant posed as a family member of the victim and created a Facebook page in an attempt to convince people to donate money to her, where she intended to take it for her own personal use,” Attorney General Hood said. “Her acts are reprehensible. Fortunately, we caught her before she raised any money. We thank Judge Gregory for his strong sentence, and I would like to thank Sheriff Jimmy Edwards and his deputies for their dedication and assistance on this case.”

The case was investigated by Miller Faulk and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Ward of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.