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Grateford Guard Pleads Guilty To Faking Illnesses, Including Cancer

By Brad Segall

SKIPPACK TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- A former corrections officer at Graterford Prison in Montgomery County has admitted in court that she forged her doctor's signatures on notes to her employer in an effort to steal sick time from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and her co-workers.

Samantha Sinkler told the judge she forged the notes by photocopying the doctor's signatures.  They were letters that alleged she was dying of cancer and suffered from seizure disorders (see previous story).

Prosecutors say it was all a scheme in order to get more sick time from the state, but she also preyed on her co-workers at the prison who, according to prosecutor Noah Marlier, donated more than 440 hours of their own sick time to her.

"These people were good Samaritans," Marlier tells KYW Newsradio.  "They were people that went out of their way to help another person that they had heard was in need and having trouble."

The 36-year-old Pottstown woman pleaded guilty to theft by deception, forgery, and identity theft.

Marlier says the theft totaled nearly $15,000.  Sinkler remains behind bars awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for late October.

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