Woman who faked cancer found guilty in veterans scam

PHOENIX — A woman who lied about a cancer diagnosis to get a state-financed abortion now has been convicted in a fraud case involving a veterans organization.

Maricopa County jurors found Chalice Renee Zeitner, 31, guilty Tuesday of two counts of fraud schemes, two counts of theft, and one count each of money laundering, identity theft and receiving an item obtained by fraudulent use of a credit card, court records show.

Zeitner claimed to be a Marine Corps veteran, a race-car driver, and a South African lawyer to forge relationships within the charities Veterans Hope and Armed Forces Racing, prosecutors said. And she used her standing to defraud other groups of tens of thousands of dollars for a gala she claimed to be planning.

Additionally, Zeitner racked up more than $25,000 in credit-card debt by opening one or more fake accounts using the personal information gleaned from the founder of Veterans Hope and his family, prosecutors said. Her sentencing is set for 8:30 a.m. MT Sept. 8 in Maricopa County Superior Court.

In April, another jury found Zeitner guilty on 11 counts of fraud and forgery after she faked a cancer diagnosis in 2010 to receive a taxpayer-funded abortion.

During that case, Zeitner's lawyer, Adam Schwartz, told the jury that his client actually had believed she had cancer. Prosecutors said the same obstetrician who performed the 2010 abortion delivered a baby for Zeitner and failed to find signs of her claimed cancer or claimed treatments for the cancer.

Her sentencing in that case will take place 10 a.m. Aug. 12, court records show.

Follow Claire M. Roney on Twitter: @claire_roney