Octomom Nadya Suleman pleaded no contest in Los Angeles County Superior Court this morning to a single count of misdemeanor welfare fraud for failing to disclose income she earned from stripping, other personal appearances and her infamous self-love porn video.
The single, Orange mother of 14 was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, placed on two years probation and ordered to pay a small fine, according to her attorney, Arthur J. LaCilento.
Consider her lucky.
Suleman was originally looking at more than six years in the can.
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Octomom Nadya Suleman Faces New Welfare Fraud Count
Suleman was originally charged with four felonies for illegally collecting $26,000 in welfare benefits last year. Prosecutors said in February the 39-year-old could be sentenced to six years and four months based on a conviction on all four counts.
However, the DA's office also indicated they would try to resolve the case without a trial if she paid the money back. LaCilento says Suleman did just that.
According to Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey's office:
Nadya Suleman, whose real name is Natalie Denise Suleman, 39, entered her plea before Superior Court Judge David Horwitz.
… Deputy District Attorney William Clark with the Public Assistance Fraud Division, who prosecuted the case, said Suleman is no longer receiving aid in Los Angeles County because she moved to Orange County in April 2013.
Suleman, who gained notoriety by giving birth to octuplets, filed for public assistance in Lancaster in January 2013. While applying for public aid, the mother of 14 children failed to disclose that she was also getting checks for personal appearances and residuals from videos. She was charged with failure to report nearly $30,000 in extra income she earned between Jan. 1, 2013, and June 30, 2013.
Suleman paid $9,805 to the California Department of Health Care Services for Medi-Cal overpayments and $16,481 to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services for aid.
The case was investigated by the Department of Public Social Services.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.