Boston Woman Pleads Not Guilty To Marathon Injury Fraud

BOSTON (AP) — A Boston woman has pleaded not guilty to fraudulently receiving thousands of dollars by claiming she was injured in the Boston Marathon bombing.

Joanna Leigh was arraigned Monday on charges of larceny and making a false claim to a government agency. She was released without bail and ordered to surrender her passport and not travel outside New England or New York. Her attorney said she's "a very fragile person."

Prosecutors say she got $8,000 from The One Fund victims' charity; $18,000 from a state victims' compensation fund; $9,000 from an online fundraiser; and $1,700 raised by Boston school students.

Authorities say she was at the April 2013 marathon, but wasn't hurt.

Forty-one-year-old Leigh says she suffered traumatic brain injuries, and the charges are retaliation for her criticism of The One Fund for not helping people with brain injuries.