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The end of the scam

Plea deal closes the curtain on ex-Napa dispatcher’s charade

Friday, July 31, 2009

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Dannille Vanderpool coverage

September 18th, 2009

Broken law, broken trust

Victims of cancer fraud speak out at sentencing

September 17th, 2009

Video: Dispatcher sentenced

Dispatcher who faked cancer gets 6 months in jail

July 31st, 2009

The end of the scam

Dannille Vanderpool spoke a very difficult truth on Thursday. “Guilty, your honor,” she said to Napa County Superior Court Judge Francisca Tisher.

It is a signal moment for Vanderpool, for whom the truth was not a priority for a period of time in which the former police dispatcher dangerously duped police officers, firefighters, friends, and eventually the community at large (including the Register) about her health.

Vanderpool told colleagues she had a ravenous form of cancer when she did not. She described symptoms she never felt, treatments she did not undergo, had difficult conversations with family and friends that simply were not necessary.

She accepted financial gifts and donations of time and effort from a core group of supporters who later were stunned and angered to find that she misled them.

On Thursday, she admitted to one felony count of grand theft, in exchange for prosecutors dropping a dozen other charges.

Most of the separate charges were based on different groups, many of them police and firefighter benevolent associations, donating funds to her on the basis of the same false cancer story. It is likely that if prosecutors could prove one count, they could prove all.

But, as the prosecutor on the case said, Vanderpool cooperated with authorities and had no prior criminal record. Vanderpool’s own attorney told the judge his client is being treated for “significant mental disorders,” which hints at the bottom line of this bizarre tale.

We hope Vanderpool gets the treatment she needs, and hope fervently that she finds a way to repay the money to her victims .

Sadly, she may never be able to repay them for their time and compassion.

3 comment(s)

JustAnotherManicMonday wrote on Jul 31, 2009 7:53 AM:

" I think this started out as a small lie to get compassion, that she said she had cancer previously, and then had the story grow bigger with cancer that came back, all to keep a boyfriend who wanted to leave her. It's very sad. I hope people can forgive her. I don't see how she is going to pay people back. Even if she sold her house, is it even worth anything with the mortgage meltdown? And if she has no job, how is she going to make house payments and pay people back? "

glenroy wrote on Jul 31, 2009 1:39 PM:

" Like Freddie and Fannie...as small lie that caused a world wide meltdown.... "

Grl 2sda wrote on Jul 31, 2009 7:30 PM:

" Its one thing that she lied to her ex-boyfriend in an attempt to get him back, but a lie of this magnitude is a completely different thing. She didn’t just lie to her boyfriend; she lied to her friends, her family, her colleagues, her DAUGHTER…the entire community. REALLY? All this for a man? Was he; was this, all worth it? For the sake of her daughter, I hope that she does get better and that she finds a way to pay restitution to everyone that was involved. To all those who were involved, her friends; her colleagues; that boyfriend…I truly hope that you all have found closure in this process. At times life imposes things on us that we can’t control, but we still have a choice as to how we respond. You were all good, compassionate, giving people, who responded to what you thought was the need of your friend. There is no shame in that. It’s time for everyone to turn the page and move on. "

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