Where is Amanda Riley from ‘Scamanda’ now? Inside the true story

Amanda Riley pulled people in with a story.

She presented herself as a young woman and mother of two who fought for an aggressive blood cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma – which despite her devastating diagnosis did not give up, according to a press release from The Court of States, the Northern District of California.

Riley documented every step of her cancer journey on social media and various blogs for years. She shared raw photos of herself who received cancer treatment, including pictures of herself with IVs and chemo in the hospital, as well as photos of themselves with a bald head according to release.

Over the course of eight years, Riley, now 39, hosted several fundraisers, both in person and online, and gathered hundreds of supporters who donated more than $ 100,000 to finance her life -saving treatments.

Then the truth came out: It had everyone been a scam. Riley had never had Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and she had staged her illness for years to request donations for her non-existent cancer costs. Riley pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

A new four -part documentary, “Scamanda”, explores how Rileypulled of his detailed scheme. The series, which premieres January 30 at ABC News with episodes that stream on Hulu next day, includes interviews with friends and family members who are victims for years of Riley’s deception.

Continue reading to learn more about what Riley was convicted of what she has said about her crime and where she is now.

What was Amanda Riley convicted of?

Riley pleaded guilty to a counting of wire fraud in October 2011. She was Convicted in May 2022 to 60 months in prison and demanded to pay refund to her victims.

Wire fraud -The oversight derives from Riley’s actions between 2012 and 2019 when she celebrated having cancer according to release. She used Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and a personal blog to document her supposed cancer journey, staging of false treatment photographs and forging of medical items and doctors’ letters, according to the court’s filing.

Throughout these years, she collected aggressively online and through personal events-strikingly to help fund her expensive treatments, but in reality the money went directly to her personal bank accounts, according to the court’s archiving. More than 300 people whose names were included in Riley’s criminal verdictcollected over $ 105,000 to Riley.

What has Amanda Riley’s victims said?

Four people provided statements about victims of victims about how Riley’s schemes affected them over the years, per. A Transcript from a Court Court Court in May 2022 in San Jose.

A statement came from Jessa Gonzalez, daughter of Riley’s husband, Cory Riley, from his previous marriage.

Gonzalez was 10 years old when Amanda Riley told her she had cancer and she remembered to feel “scared” that her stepmother “wouldn’t be much longer.”

As the years went by, Gonzalez said she began to suspect something was off.

“Amanda was always sick and could never get out of bed, but I would never see her go to appointments. She had always looked healthy, ”she said. “I noticed that she would starve herself until she wanted to go out.”

Gonzalez said she once found an “IV wrapped in Saran Wrap” in her little brother’s playroom, and when she brought it to Riley, her stepmother became defensive.

“She quickly took it away and said my little brother took it out of her bedside table,” she said. “I knew better than questioning her as she (would) regularly tilt out to me.”

Gonzalez, who was 19 when she gave her statement about the influence of the victim, said Riley’s long -term deception had made her depressed and seriously anxious.

“My hair is falling out of severe stress, and some days I can’t physically work because of how bad she has scared me,” she said.

Gonzalez’s mother and Cory Riley’s ex-wife, Aletta Souza, also delivered a statement about victim that reflected on the emotional injury she said Riley had inflicted on her daughter.

“Amanda Riley wanted to tell my daughter that she had a few months to live, and then a miracle, she was in remission and then again by dying and then remission and continuing. The toll that takes on a child and that injuries caused is immense, ”she said.

The court also heard statements about victim from Lindsey Wilder, who often donated platelets in honor of Riley, and Lisa Berry, a former friend of Riley.

Berry said Riley told her about her cancer diagnosis in 2010 and asked her and her husband to help pay for life -saving blood tests.

“We gave her the necessary money. Within a few days, she released glamorous photos of herself taken by a professional photographer, ”Berry said. “I became suspicious that the money I had given her was used to pay for this photo session.”

Berry said she and her husband began to look through Riley’s lies, which they found particularly disturbing considering that Berry’s husband’s first wife had died of cancer after a long battle with the disease.

They eventually cut all the ties with Riley and said they were horrified to hear that Riley told others in 2012 that she had been newly diagnosed with cancer.

“Amanda Riley counterfeit cancer and scammed on an even bigger scale,” Berry said. “My husband and I were upset to hear this happened again.”

As part of her verdict, Riley was ordered to pay a refund of more than $ 105,000 to hundreds of people donated to her fake cancer -related fundraisers. A court document from 2022 includes a list of anyone owed refund, including several people donating small amounts of $ 10 or $ 25, and others who donated several thousand dollars to Riley.

What has Amanda Riley said about her actions?

Riley made a statement during his judgment in the judgment on May 3, 2022, according to the same Judgment.

“Your honor, there are not enough words to express sufficiently how awful I feel and how sorry for it is that this happened,” she said. “My heart sore every day and thinks I did something that hurts other people. This is the worst thing I have ever made and the worst mistake I could have made. “

She also said she felt “ashamed” about her actions and said she “had been dealing with the consequences of this for years.”

“I threw my dream career, lost all my friends and family. I went from being no one, to being negatively covered with dozens of tabloids and news articles, ”she said.

Riley also said it was time to “go forward and be in charge.”

“I am here to accept responsibility and humbly accept my consequences as the first step of showing everyone I want to do this right,” she said. “I want to spend the rest of my life working against the changes for the evil I have caused.”

She also approached her step -daughter, Jessa Gonzalez directly.

“I hope this brings you the closure and clarity you have been looking for,” she said. “I’m so sorry that you were in the dark for what really happened for so long. You had to go through this and it breaks my heart to know that I hurt you. “

In addition, Riley mentioned the two sons she shares with Cory Riley.

“Our two young boys were babies when this started, so they were too little to be affected by my bad choices,” she said. “Now to see them as big boys to see their mother reviewing this process, will tilt their world upside down.”

When she convicted Riley, American district judge Beth Labson Freeman Freeman approached her directly.

“I can only imagine that over eight years you were as sincere to these people as you showed up to me today,” she said. “And I have to say that by listening to you today I could only imagine what good action you had for eight years ahead of churches and community groups and in your blog and online and with your children.”

Freeman added that it “breaks my heart to think your boys … don’t want their mother with them.”

“But it was your responsibility before you committed these fraud to think of your parents’ obligations,” Freeman continued. “It’s not the court’s job to clean up for you.”

Where is Amanda Riley now?

Amanda Riley began to serve a five-year verdict in the Federal Medical Center Carswell, a federal prison in FT. Worth, Texas.

According to the petition of divorce obtained by Today.com, Cory Riley filed for divorce in January 2024. The archiving said Cory Riley lived in Texas.

Her release date is 4th December 2025 according to her Inserted record.

Her inmate record also says that Riley is now located on RRM Long Beach, an office for housing development management.

According to Federal Bureau of PrisonsRRMS administers different categories of federal offenders, including young people, inmates in the home, the ones in “Prison/Short -term” and “Long -term boarders.”

RRMS “also monitors local housing center centers responsible for providing federal offenders with community -based services that will help with their recovering needs,” according to Bureau of Prisons.

It is unclear which of the above inmates categories that Riley is currently falling into and whether she is atoners for the rest of her sentence in prison, a housing center center, an inclusion or elsewhere.

After her release from prison, Riley will undergo a three -year supervision period, according to a 2022 press release From the US Law Office, the northern district of California.

Last summer, Riley sought a reduction of his verdict. She asked for her verdict to be reduced to time earned due to compassionate release, with reference to various medical illnesses that she allegedly suffered in prison.

In June 2024, a Judge rejected her requestreferring to “proof that the defendant is once again to hover illness.”