Woman who Faked Pregnancy in Adoption Scam is at it Again

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Three years ago Maya "Cassandra" Mays was sentenced to three years in prison for pretending to be pregnant and promising her baby to couples who gave her up to $12,000.

Paroled in November 2005, it would seem that she’s been at it again.

Amy Miller, who directs an adoption agency called Link Adoption in Concord, North Carolina, told reporters she had been contacted by Mays recently, who said she was pregnant and wanted to give her baby to a couple who were looking to adopt.

The agency connected Mays to two different couples, one of whom gave her $1,050 for alleged medical expenses, and another who had wired her $250 for a plane ticket.

When Mays began acting erratically—changing her story, calling at odd hours, and increasing her requests for money—Miller did some research and uncovered Mays’ earlier arrest record for falsifying pregnancy and defrauding couples. (No word on why an adoption agency would not have already done a background check on its clients, however).

One of the couples involved in the 2004 case was contacted by Miller, and they called police.

Mays was arrested and is being held at a Contra Costa, California county jail, awaiting a hearing on her parole violation. One of the terms of Mays’ parole was that she never contact an adoption agency again. If found guilty, Mays will face up to a year in prison for violating the terms of her parole.

She also faces possible charges of fraud.

During the previous case, Mays, who is very heavy, convinced a northern California couple that she was pregnant and planned to give them her baby. After refusing repeated requests for a doctor’s appointment, the couple became suspicious and called police, fearing they had been defrauded of nearly $12,000.

Tests revealed that she had never been pregnant, though Mays said she had a stillborn baby and surrendered it to a hospital and hadn’t told the couple for fear they would be angry.

The jury in the case found her guilty, and she was sentenced to three years, though she was paroled early.

In the most recent case, Miller claims that Mays faxed her a "legitimate-looking" ultrasound printout from UCSF in San Francisco, though hospital administrators told reporters they could not verify Mays’ status as a patient because of confidentiality laws.

Mays insists that she is pregnant, and that she has suffered more than anyone in the case.

But a probation officer in 2004 testified that Mays is a pathological liar. A neighbor of Mays told reporters that she did have an infant daughter who had been removed by Social Services. "She wanted me to write a letter for her to say that she was a good parent," said neighbor Lianette Hollie to reporters at The San Francisco Chronicle. "But I don’t think she is. She’s a mess."