A former social worker pleaded guilty to multiple charges after she cooked up an “elaborate scheme” to avoid a criminal case in Colorado, officials said.
Robin Niceta, 42, faked a brain cancer diagnosis to avoid being prosecuted in another felony case, the 18th District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
The plot started in January 2022 when the county’s department of human services received an “anonymous” tip that an Aurora city councilwoman “may have been sexually abusing her son,” the release said. Investigators traced the call to Niceta, who was dating the former police chief Vanessa Wilson at the time, officials said.
Niceta had made the call only one day after the councilwoman had gone on a podcast and spoke negatively about Wilson, officials said.
Caseworkers investigated the councilwoman and cleared her of any wrongdoing, officials said. Niceta was then charged with attempting to influence a public servant and making a false child abuse report, a felony and misdemeanor respectively.
While that criminal case was going through the justice system, Niceta’s legal defense team filed paperwork seeking to “delay her trial and evaluate her competency because she was allegedly terminally ill,” officials said.
A report came from a “‘Dr. C. Marquez’ at ‘New Mexico Oncology’” — neither of which existed. The nonexistent doctor had apparently diagnosed Niceta with glioblastoma, a rare brain cancer.
Investigators found no one was licensed to practice medicine in New Mexico under that name, officials said. A local doctor reviewed the diagnosis report and found it had several typographical errors and used medical terminology incorrectly.
MRI scans provided in the report were identical to ones found on the internet, officials said. A Facebook page for “New Mexico Oncology” that was created the year before was traced back to an IP address associated with Niceta, as well as a phone number.
Niceta was arrested in New Mexico and extradited back to Colorado in July 2023 after a grand jury returned a 10-count indictment against her.
She pleaded guilty to several charges on Tuesday, Oct. 8, including: two counts of attempting to influence a public servant, forgery, tampering with physical evidence, criminal impersonation and two counts of second-degree forgery, officials said.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Gallo said in the news release that Niceta had gone “to great lengths to fake a terminal illness and fabricate records in order to avoid facing justice.”
A jury found Niceta guilty earlier this year in the case stemming from the fake child abuse report, and she was sentenced to four years in prison, officials said.
“It’s absurd that a former social worker entrusted to protect children maliciously attempted to tear a family apart with false accusations against another public official,” District Attorney John Kellner said. “Her actions were spiteful, vindictive, and wasted numerous county resources. I believe her nefarious conduct warrants additional time in the Department of Corrections.”
Niceta will be sentenced in the forgery case on Jan. 17.
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