A Chula Vista woman already notorious for forging doctors’ notes to fake a cancer diagnosis and dodge prison time was sentenced Thursday to more than two years behind bars for a new scheme: forging a letter claiming she’d been exonerated so she could land a job while under federal supervision. Ashleigh Lynn Chavez, who embezzled more than $160,000 from a former employer years earlier, pleaded guilty to the new fraud charges before being sentenced on October 8.
A Pattern of Forged Documents
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Chavez submitted a forged letter supposedly written by her own defense attorney, claiming she had been exonerated and that prosecutors had dismissed all charges against her. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the fake letter went further, advising Chavez that her court records had been sealed and that she should not share them with anyone. She also submitted a forged recommendation letter supposedly written by the CEO of a nonprofit, the paper reported.
The scheme worked, at least for a while. The company’s background check did not surface her prior convictions, and Chavez worked the job for more than three months, drawing a standard salary, per the same account. She was only fired after a coworker spotted a news release detailing her convictions. Chavez had also been let go from a nonprofit job previously after it discovered her criminal record through its own background check.
Attorney Says Letters Never Influenced Hiring
Chavez’s attorney, Benjamin Kington, told the Union-Tribune that his client created the false letters after struggling to find work because of her convictions. Kington said the letters were never actually read by Chavez’s employer and did not affect her hiring, the newspaper reported.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Chavez used forged documents to obtain a job at a San Diego-area company. She pleaded guilty to new federal charges involving forged letters from a former attorney and former employer while on supervised release, the Justice Department said.
Origins in a $160,000 Embezzlement Case
Chavez’s history with federal courts dates back to 2019, when she pleaded guilty in connection with embezzling more than $160,000 from a former employer. In 2021, she was sentenced to just over a dozen years in federal prison…