AURORA, Colo. — A former social worker charged with falsely accusing an Aurora city councilwoman of child abuse faces new criminal counts after she allegedly faked a cancer diagnosis.
Arapahoe County prosecutors filed the new counts Friday after unsealing a grand jury indictment against Robin Niceta. According to court documents, Niceta faces 10 separate counts:
- Three counts of attempting to influence a public official, all felonies.
- Two count of forgery of a public record, both felonies.
- One count of tampering with physical evidence, a felony.
- One count of criminal impersonation to gain a benefit, a misdemeanor.
- Three counts of misdemeanor forgery.
Niceta's mother, Janice Dudley, was also indicted in the alleged cancer scheme. She faces four counts: conspiracy to attempt to influence a public servant and tampering with physical evidence, both felonies, and misdemeanor counts of second-degree forgery and conspiracy to commit second-degree forgery.
According to records filed in court, Niceta and her mother claimed she had been diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common type of brain cancer and one that is usually deadly.
According to court documents, the criminal case involving Niceta began in January 2022, when an anonymous phone tip called into the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services suggested that Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky may have sexually abused her young son. Caseworkers investigated and found that Jurinsky did nothing wrong and closed the case.
> The video above aired May 15: Former social worker's attorneys quit after accusation she 'fabricated' brain tumor
At the same time, according to court documents, the anonymous call was traced to Niceta, then the partner of former Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson. Niceta was accused of making the call the day after Jurinsky criticized Wilson while speaking on a podcast, calling her “trash,” according to court documents.
Niceta, 41, faces a felony charge of attempting to influence a public servant and a separate misdemeanor count of filing a false child abuse report in that incident.
She is scheduled to go on trial on those charges Aug. 1.
As that case was working its way through the court, her attorneys filed two motions – one on March 24 to delay her trial, and one on March 31 seeking an evaluation of whether she was incompetent because she was terminally ill.
Those motions included documents provided by Niceta's attorneys. Among them was a two-page report from a "Dr. C. Marquez" at "New Mexico Oncology" stating that Niceta had brain cancer; four MRI images supposedly showing Niceta's brain tumor; a letter from an organization called City of Hope stating that Niceta had been referred to the "Glioblastoma Clinical Trial" and that she would likely not be able to participate in the trial for a variety of reasons, and two separate notes of visits signed by "C. Marquez, M.D."
Prosecutors tried to call the oncology center and reach the doctor whose name appeared on the records but could find no one licensed to practice medicine in New Mexico with that name. A local doctor who examined the records reported they "contained numerous typos, and improperly used various medical terms."
In addition, the doctor told prosecutors that the MRI scans were identical to images easily found with an internet search. In addition, prosecutors found that the Facebook page for New Mexico Oncology had been created in January 2023.
Investigators found that an IP address belonging to Niceta and her mother was used to create the Facebook pages of New Mexico Oncology Associates and Carey Marquez, the doctor who purportedly diagnosed the brain tumor.
If Niceta had been evaluated, and found incompetent, the ramifications could have included dismissal of the charges.
After the filing of the new charges, a judge set bail at $10,000 for Niceta and $5,000 for Dudley and issued arrest warrants for both.
Niceta was arrested in Sandoval County, New Mexico and booked into county jail.
Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
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