Serial fraudster Samantha Cookes has been jailed for three years for stealing over €60,000 from the Department of Social Protection.
The 36-year-old, of no fixed abode, was sentenced this afternoon at Tralee Circuit Criminal Court by Judge Ronan Munro.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of deception, and 16 sample counts of stealing money from the state.
Ms Cookes has previously been known by several different names during her time in Kerry, including Jade O’Sullivan and Carrie Jade Williams.
Samantha Cookes appeared in person this afternoon at Tralee Circuit Court before Judge Ronan Munro for sentencing.
Ms Cookes, wearing a dark beige top and black skirt, appeared unsteady on her feet while standing in the court, stared at the ground while seated, and wiped tears on occasion during the hearing.
In his ruling, Judge Munro told the court there are a number of aggravating and mitigating factors in the case.
He said Ms Cookes falsley claimed she had a terminal illness, huntington's disease, and cynically took advantage of people’s good nature to deceive them.
The Judge described the actions as significant fraud over a protracted period of time, adding had covid not occurred, her deception would’ve been stopped much earlier.
He outlined that Ms Cookes had defrauded the state of over €60,000 from 238 payments over a four-year-period in a carefully planned way.
Referencing her previous convictions, Judge Munro said she was no stranger to deception; adding in this instance public funds had been diverted.
The court heard from a letter written by Ms Cookes, which noted she has declined psychiatric and psychological services, as she did not want to cost the state any more money.
The judge noted her early guilty plea, her tragic background - including the loss of a child when she was 19 years of age - and that she’s serving her first sentence.
However, he said he would not be accepting a self diagnoses of mental health issues in his judgement.
He sentenced Samantha Cookes to 4 years in prison on one count of deception, suspending the final 12 months, saying he was doing so against his better judgement to give her an opportunity to seek treatment upon her release.
Ms Cookes was sentenced to 2 years in prison on the second deception count, and to 12 months to sample theft charges.
The sentences are to run concurrently and are backdated to July last, when Ms Cookes first went into custody, following her arrest outside Tralee Post Office.
