According to the CBS New york, “The state attorney general’s office announced Tuesday that Jessica Vega, 25, has been indicted on charges of fraud and grand larceny for getting her “dream wedding” by falsely claiming she was dying of leukemia.”Jessica Vega, formerly of Montgomery, N.Y., was arrested in Virginia on April 3, extradited to New York and arraigned Friday in Orange County Court in Goshen. She pleaded not guilty.
Vega, then living in Montgomery, claimed she had just a few months to live and wanted a “dream wedding” to Michael O’Connell, father of her year-old daughter.
“Her cause spread quickly around the mid-Hudson region, helped by a story in the Times Herald Record. The newspaper said Vega showed a reporter what she said was a doctor’s letter confirming the diagnosis” Added the CBS New York.
It seems to me that Jessica Vega needed some money to pay her “dream wedding”, as she said she was dying of Cancer, but... is it true? Some strangers actually donated the wedding dress, the 2 rings and the honey moon. If convicted of fraud or grand larcen, Vega could be sentenced 16 months to four years in prison.
“Her cause spread quickly around the mid-Hudson region, helped by a story in the Times Herald Record. The newspaper said Vega showed a reporter what she said was a doctor’s letter confirming the diagnosis” Added the CBS New York.
It seems to me that Jessica Vega needed some money to pay her “dream wedding”, as she said she was dying of Cancer, but... is it true? Some strangers actually donated the wedding dress, the 2 rings and the honey moon. If convicted of fraud or grand larcen, Vega could be sentenced 16 months to four years in prison.
- What do you think? Is this fair enough for those couples who don’t have money?
- What would you do if you were one of those who donated money for her wedding?
- Should she be sentenced?
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/04/10/jessica-vega-charged-after-allegedly-claiming-she-had-cancer-to-get-dream-wedding/
Alejandra Séculi
It's really hard to judge without knowing the whole story and the personal background of this girl but anyhow it is clear that Jessica made a huge mistake.
ReplyDeleteConsequently I think she should get some kind of punishment for what she has done which is not only lying for people to feel sorrow for her but also discouraging people who donate money for real campaigns that help people with serious problems.
If I were to judge, Jessica should pay for her wedding and do some kind of social activity to benefit people with real problems so that she realizes how selfish she has been and this situation is not repeated again.
In addition if you put yourself in the shoes of those who donated the money how would you feel? Wouldn't you start thinking twice before donating money again?
I would personally feel awful and if you deeply think about it those who donated money probably did fully believe in this project and really empathized with this girl's situation, it looks like someone even gave her a wedding dress!
So my question is, how far should we get in order to fill our dreams and at what prize?
Paula, I agree with you. But although we don’t know her real situation, how could someone do something like what Jessica did? It is absolutely obvious that she should be punished in some way, because it seems that she does not know what is right or wrong, but there could be the possibility of someone telling her what to do, but anyways, what she did was wrong.
DeleteIt is true the fact that this is discouraging people who donate money for real campaigns, which could become a big problem for those ones who need it.
Moreover, It is obvious that she should have paid her own wedding, but what she should really do is give out all the money they (she and her husband) have been given. It could be good for her too to do some community service, why not? She could learn how to treat people who care about those ones who nowadays need help…
If I were one of those who donated the money I would feel so bad… because for that quantity of money given, someone who really needs it could have made some profit of it…think of those kids down in Africa, who are dying for not having food at all. And instead of helping who needs it we have this girl, who has been so ignorant…
The good thing about all this is the moral of the tale: think before you do something.
Alejandra Séculi
I cannot believe how someone can be so negligible to have the courage of stealing people’s money and their charity to achieve their dreams without even having guilty conscience.
ReplyDeleteKnowing about these unfair situations, I think it would be comprehensive that people lose confidence towards this type of things as they fear to be ripped off. I hope that this situation can be used to set some example for future people who are thinking of doing some type of thing just like this one.
If I had to decide whether Jessica Vega should be sent to prison or not, I definitely vote for her to be jailed so she has time to learn the lesson and also be an example for other people, as I said.
If we put ourselves in the skin of the people who donated so much money for this wedding to take place, I would demand to have my money back as soon as possible and make everyone aware of what this indecent lady has done.
Marina Segura