A TikTok cancer scammer who fleeced hundreds of GoFundMe donors out of $37,000 by lying that she had pancreatic cancer & a football-sized tumour on her spine faces up to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty. Madison Russo, 20, was arrested on January 23 after anonymous medical professionals sounded the alarm that she was faking a stage 2 cancer diagnosis, pointing out the irregularities of cords & tubes in her 'chemo' TikTok videos. After being charged with theft by means of deception in January this year, the exposed TikToker from Bettendorf, Iowa, had initially pleaded not guilty the following month. However, the young woman, who caused public outrage with her twisted lies, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft in June & will now face a judge for sentencing. Amid a slew of lies, Russo, 19 at the time of being charged, said she had pancreatic cancer & acute lymphoblastic leukaemia & even claimed she had a 'football-sized' tumour on her lower back & spine in a bid to swindle innocent well-wishers. Russo, who claimed her medical journey started in February 2022, was outed when police obtained medical records from centers she was a patient at that all exposed she had not received any form of cancer treatment. Officers also found that Russo was shamelessly stealing photos from cancer patients' social media accounts in an attempt to make her story more believable. She which she promoted her 'cancer journey' on Facebook & LinkedIn among other social media sites. Russo, who also shared her story in newspapers, podcasts, talks at St. Ambrose University, where she studied & The National Pancreatic Foundation, posted a $10,000 bail the same day she was arrested. Police obtained a search warrant for Russo's Bettendorf apartment where they uncovered a brown paper bag with medical supplies, an IV pole with a cotton ball filled pump, boxes of transparent dressing, wigs & a prescription for nausea medication made out to her relative. Russo was found to have accepted money from 439 donors, including from cancer foundations & school districts. A GoFundMe account showed another $37,303 was raised by January before her arrest. It appears the page has been taken down now & GoFundMe have refunded the money that was donated to her. The fake cancer patient claimed that bloody stools, nose bleeds & fevers led her to get her labs done before her diagnosis. When she was given her 'diagnosis', she said doctors had given her an 11% survival rate for 5 years. At the time, Russo claimed doctors insisted surgery wasn't a possibility to remove her 'football-sized' tumour. Between February & October 2022, Russo alleged she received about 15 rounds of chemotherapy & 90 rounds of radiation. She also insisted she had a consultation with Mayo Clinic doctors. Despite her 'cancer diagnosis', she was able to achieve a 4.0 GPA, work part-time & participate in outdoor activities. Her 'medical journey' was regularly posted on social media where she often talked about her alleged chemo process & day-to-day symptoms. Internet sleuths were quick to question Russo & pointed out her hidden mistakes in several of her videos. Source:dailymail.co.uk #crimejunkie #crimejunkiestories #crimejunkies #crimestories #crimetiktoker #truecrimecommunity #crimetiktok #truecrimetok #truecrimetiktoker #crimetok #crime #crimetiktoks #truecrime - @crimeatyourfingertips