'FOOTBALL-SIZED TUMOR' Scammer Won't Face Jail Time
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
3.9 • 7.6K Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2023
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Madison Russo told the world she was battling pancreatic cancer and had a tumor “the size of a football."
It was all a lie.
After Russo bilked donors out of more than $37,000 through her posts on social media, some eagle-eyed medical professionals began questioning her diagnosis. The anonymous witnesses noticed inaccuracies in the photos she posted of herself and contacted authorities.
Russo is arrested and charged with first-degree theft. Now, under a plea deal, Russo gets a suspended sentence and stays out of jail
Joining Nancy Grace today:
- Kirby Clements- Attorney at Law, Author: "How to Keep Your A$$ Out of Jail;" Instagram: @kirbyclementsjr, Twitter: @kirbyesq
- Dr. Shari Schwartz- Forensic Psychologist (Specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy); Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology;" Twitter: @TrialDoc
- Greg Smith- Special Deputy Sheriff, Johnson County Sheriff's Office (Kansas), Executive Director of the Kelsey Smith Foundation
- Stefani Condon-Oldreive - Founder and Director of Craig’s Cause Pancreatic Cancer Society; Craig was her father, who passed away shortly after his diagnosis 16 years ago.
https://twitter.com/CraigsCauseCan
- Dr. Tim Gallagher- Medical Examiner, State of Florida; Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine; Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference
- Kayla Brantley- Reporter, DailyMail.com; Twitter: @_KaylaBrantley, Instagram: @KaylaBrantley
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Crime stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:07.0 | I cannot believe it. A total faker, a scammer, a charlatan who fakes a cancer battle and documents it on Tik-Toc and then pockets tens of thousands |
| 0:30.4 | of dollars from go-fummy donation actually cries in front of the judge and |
| 0:37.6 | escapes jail. The judge actually believes her BS. |
| 0:45.0 | I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. |
| 0:48.0 | Thank you for being with us here on Crime Stories and Series X7 111. This Tik-Talker, Madison Russo of Bittendorf Iowa, |
| 0:59.2 | scams 40 grand, nearly $40,000. |
| 1:05.6 | And she gets sympathy of millions of followers |
| 1:09.0 | after lying about a, quote, |
| 1:11.3 | football-sized tumor |
| 1:15.0 | football-sized tumor wrapped around her spine. |
| 1:21.0 | When the judge hears her story and watches her start crying, the judge hands down a |
| 1:28.0 | suspended sentence. |
| 1:29.2 | Yes, she's walking free. Madison Russo who fakes leukemia and pancreatic cancer on |
| 1:38.3 | Tic-Toc go find me Facebook LinkedIn actually walked free. I can't believe it. Now I just had a very |
| 1:49.8 | dear and close friend Natalie went to high school with me back in Macon, Georgia, pass |
| 1:58.6 | away leaving behind a son without a mother after a long and valiant fight with cancer. |
| 2:10.0 | She suffered so much and her family suffered so much and her sister Amy did so much to take care of her. |
| 2:19.1 | But Natalie passed away. She slipped away from us. And now I got a look at this woman, Madison Russo, who fakes leukemia and pancreatic cancer, |
| 2:29.0 | online to scan people. |
| 2:32.0 | Over 400 people, send her donations as part of a 10-year suspended |
| 2:38.3 | sentence she was ordered to pay back the nearly $40,000. |
... |
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