A Mays Landing woman who admitted to stealing nearly $147,000 from a senior living community and then claiming her child had cancer in order to continually delay her court dates was released to a halfway facility Thursday, after five months in prison.
Alicia Campbell, now 38, was sentenced to six years in prison Sept. 5, after pleading guilty in July to stealing from the Greenbriar Oceanaire Community and Golf Course in Ocean Township.
She got 18 months for obstruction.
Campbell was working as lifestyle in the senior community, where she was supposed to spend funds on entertainment, events and items.
Instead, she bought more than $81,000 worth of items for herself between January 2019 and January 2022. Campbell also used the digital money app Venmo to send more than $94,000 to third parties from the association's accounts, only to have them immediately sent to her own account.
She has to make restitution on $146,976, according to the plea agreement.
Campbell is eligible for parole March 1, 2027, state Department of Corrections records show, which cleared the way for her placement in Garrett House, a residential community release program in Camden County, run by Volunteers of America Delaware Valley.
A prisoner has to meet several guidelines to be eligible for halfway, including having 30 months or less left on their sentence, and achieving full minimum custody status.
Neither of Campbell's sentences has a mandatory minimum.
Garrett House at 509 Cooper St. in Camden is specifically designed for female offenders.
While there, Campbell will have supervision while getting individualized case management and be eligible for various programs including job readiness and employment counseling, vocational training and help with a discharge plan.
Campbell first was charged in March 2023, and released on a summons.
She was indicted Jan. 3, 2024, and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment a month later.
That April, the lies started.
She claimed her minor child was undergoing treatment for leukemia in Philadelphia, leading to several adjournments of the case.
The treatments were not successful, she told the court that summer. As a result, the child needed to be transferred to the Texas Children’s Hospital for imminent and urgent care.
She submitted documentation to the court, claiming it was from the doctors treating her child.
Then, in August, Campbell once again asked for an adjournment, claiming her child was still receiving care in Texas.
She submitted a document on letterhead that was purportedly from the Leukemia Program at the Texas Children’s Hospital. It detailed her child’s condition and treatment regimen, Nolan said.
But there was one problem: Personnel at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office noticed the hospital's address was wrong, and there was no additional contact information for the doctor who allegedly authored the letter.
An investigation by detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Squad found that not only was the letter a forgery, Campbell's child never received care there.
In fact, Campbell never met anyone at the hospital.
She was arrested and jailed briefly before she was released.
Campbell has a slight criminal history, BreakingAC previously reported.
The then-20-year-old Alicia Cornelius had a theft-by-deception case in 2008. That was sent back to municipal court, where she paid a monetary disposition.
