Cary woman pleads guilty to writing bad check to Fox River Grove HVAC company

A Cary woman initially charged with creating a GoFund Me account to raise funds for a friend she falsely claimed had cancer pleaded guilty Wednesday to check fraud in an unrelated case and was sentenced to probation and community service.

Tonya L. Carter, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of deceptive practices, a Class 4 felony, McHenry County court records show.

She was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 hours of public service and fined $1,299, according to sentencing orders. A portion of the fines and fees will be waived.

In exchange for entering the guilty plea, a charge of computer fraud was dismissed.

In her plea, Carter admitted to writing a check for $7,200 to Master Tech HVAC in Fox River Grove on or about Nov. 24, 2021, on an account that had been closed, according to the indictment.

In the computer fraud charge that was dismissed, Carter was accused of setting up a fake GoFundMe account in 2020 for another woman who Carter falsely claimed had cancer. That account raised $1,320, according to the complaint and indictment.

At the time she was charged, authorities had alleged that between Oct. 12 and Nov. 24, 2020, Carter used the GoFundMe fundraising website “for the purpose of creating and executing a fraudulent fundraising scheme” to collect donations to help the woman pay for cancer treatments, even though Carter allegedly knew the woman did not have cancer.

Carter’s attorney declined to comment.