The False Claims Act works - Times Republican
Four decades ago, on Oct. 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law my bipartisan updates to the False Claims Act. At the time, I never imagined this sharpened Civil War-era tool would rec...
An Arizona woman has been sentenced to a month in jail for elaborate fake-pregnancy schemes, one of which ensnared The Bachelor star Clayton Echard. A Maricopa County judge on Friday gave 36-year-old Laura Owens 30 days behind bars and seven years of probation after she admitted faking pregnancies, lying under oath, altering an ultrasound image, and even staging a bogus pregnancy video, per SFGate. Owens, the daughter of longtime Bay Area broadcasters Ronn Owens and Jan Black, pleaded guilty in August to four felony counts, including perjury, related to two paternity schemes dating back five years. Echard claimed she'd been "carrying out these tactics for at least 10 years."
Prosecutors alleged Owens falsely claimed a pregnancy to ensnare Greg Gillespie, an Arizona man she briefly dated in 2021. Two years later, Owens and Echard, star of The Bachelor's Season 26, reportedly went out on a single date. Owens soon after filed a paternity lawsuit seeking child support from Echard, who she identified as the father of her twin fetuses; she later said she miscarried. Both Echard and Gillespie said they spent years trying to fight Owens' claims and restore their reputations. Gillespie is now seeking $300,000 in restitution, per AZ Family. Owens told the court she was "terribly sorry," while Echard claimed she was only "sorry she got caught." The judge suggested she was drawn to "attention-seeking behavior as a result of mental health issues.
Four decades ago, on Oct. 27, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law my bipartisan updates to the False Claims Act. At the time, I never imagined this sharpened Civil War-era tool would rec...