A Chula Vista woman previously convicted of embezzling from her employer and then faking a cancer diagnosis to avoid going to prison pleaded guilty Thursday to new fraud charges for falsely representing to a prospective employer that she had been exonerated in her criminal case.
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Ashleigh Lynn Chavez, 42, was sentenced to prison for taking over $160,000 from a former employer, then later submitting forged doctor’s letters to a judge that recommended she serve time in home confinement rather than prison.
She was released from custody in 2023.
Prosecutors allege that the following year, she submitted a forged letter — supposedly written by her defense attorney — in a job application that fraudulently claimed she had been exonerated in the criminal case and that prosecutors dismissed all charges against her.
The letter appeared to be written to Chavez from her attorney, and in it, the “attorney” advised Chavez that her court records had been sealed so she shouldn’t share them with anyone, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Chavez had also been fired by a nonprofit after they discovered her convictions through a background check, but prosecutors say Chavez submitted a forged recommendation letter as part of her job application that was supposedly written by the nonprofit’s CEO.
Chavez was hired due in part to the forged documents, according to her plea agreement. She’s slated to be sentenced in October.
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