Criminal family raises money for daughter's fake terminal illness

After a family falsely claimed their three-year-old daughter suffers from a dangerous heart disease, a family friend posted a page on the GoFundMe website for their support. The family trio from Marietta, Georgia is now arrested and faces charges of felony conspiracy. The campaign organizer refunded all the donated money after the truth came out.

span style="line-height: 15.8599996566772px;">MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Later on, it was reported that the daughter was actually healthy when the police checked on her conditions because of a teacher's concern. The fundraising page was taken down after the issue surfaced.

"I am posting this for my friend Jo Clawson whose 3-year-old daughter, Sofia, is very ill with a life threatening heart infection. This happened 2 weeks after Sofia underwent heart surgery to repair a defect that she was born with," written on the controversial page as shared by KESQ.

The original person to have posted the account is allegedly a fake "family friend." Speculation was raised from the people who know Joanessa Clawson, 35, and James Clawson, 38; the neighbors repeatedly tried to alert the police earlier of the scam.


Having noticed growing suspicions, Joannessa Clawson provided the donors a doctor's note and a contact number of a nurse for further questions.

However, the contact number was found to be owned by Clawson's mother, Patti Ann Baldassarre, 68, who was also arrested for conspiring to the couple's illicit transaction. Meanwhile, the named doctor was discovered to have retired years ago.

Joanessa Clawson faces additional felony theft by deception charges and remains behind bars with a $10,000 bond. James Clawson was also charged with misdemeanor obstruction of a law enforcement officer and had posted a bail of $5,000. Baldassarre is also held with a bind of $2,500.

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The couple's former scams surfaced as people claimed to have hired them as wedding photographers but photos were never given to them even after complete payments over time.

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