Mays Landing woman faked child's cancer to delay criminal case, new charges claim

A Mays Landing woman is accused of claiming her child had cancer in order to get numerous postponements in a criminal case, according to new charges.

Alicia Campbell, 37, is jailed on charges of tampering with public records of information, impersonation, forgery, obstruction of justice and making an unsworn false statement to authorities, according to Ocean County First Assistant Prosecutor Michael Nolan Jr.

The alleged lies began in April, three months after Campbell was indicted on charges of theft, financial facilitation and forgery for stealing from Greenbriar Oceanaire Community and Golf Course, a senior living community in Ocean Township.

As lifestyle director, Campbell was supposed to spend funds on entertainment, events and items for the senior community. 

Instead, she allegedly bought more than $81,000 worth of items for herself between January 2019 and January 2022. Campbell also is accused of using the digital money app Venmo to send more than $94,000 to third parties from the association's accounts, only to have them immediately sent to her own account.

She was charged with those crimes in March 2023, and released on a summons, meaning she did not see the inside of a cell.

But it was her alleged attempts to delay justice that landed her in the Ocean County jail this week.

Campbell was indicted Jan. 3, and arraigned Feb. 5. Then, this past April, she made her first claim that her minor child was undergoing treatment for leukemia in Philadelphia. 

That led to several adjournments of the case.

The treatments were not successful, she told the court that summer. As a result, the child needed to be transferred to the Texas Children’s Hospital for imminent and urgent care.  

She submitted documentation to the court, claiming it was from the doctors treating her child. 

Then, in August, Campbell once again asked for an adjournment, claiming her child was still receiving care in Texas. 

She submitted a document on letterhead that was purportedly from the Leukemia Program at the Texas Children’s Hospital. It detailed her child’s condition and treatment regimen, Nolan said. 

But there was one problem: Personnel at the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office noticed the hospital's address was wrong, and there was no additional contact information for the doctor who allegedly authored the letter.  

An investigation by detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office Economic Crimes Squad found that not only was the letter a forgery, Campbell's child never received care there, according to the charges.In fact, Campbell never met anyone at the hospital.

Campbell was charged Tuesday, and taken into custody. She is now jailed pending a detention hearing.