- Amanda C. Riley is serving prison time for faking cancer and scamming supporters out of thousands of dollars.
- A 2023 podcast and a new docuseries cover her story, which also mentions her husband, Cory.
- Cory and Amanda have two sons together. Here’s where Cory is today.
The story of Amanda C. Riley, a Christian woman in California who used her now-archived blog, “Lymphoma Can Suck It,” to chronicle her experience after supposedly being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma was compelling from the start: A young woman blogging about having cancer in order to raise awareness and funds to help pay for her aggressive treatment was actually lying the whole time, leaching attention and more than $100,000 from her friends, family, and even strangers.
It’s the reason the “Scamanda” podcast quickly became a megahit upon its 2023 release, and why a new ABC docuseries is telling the story for a second time, delving deeper into how Riley pulled off her scheme and how she was eventually caught.
Amanda pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges in October 2021, and was sentenced to five years in federal prison in May 2022. She was also ordered to pay $105,513 in restitution to her victims. She’s currently incarcerated at FMC Carswell, a federal prison in Ft. Worth, Texas, and is scheduled for release on October 15, 2026.
As of January 2025, no one else has been charged with crimes related to their involvement in Amanda’s scheme. However, according to the “Scamanda” podcast and docuseries, family members helped her set up websites to acquire donations and contributed posts to her blog. Whether any of them knew Amanda did not actually have cancer or if they truly believed she was ill is unclear.
While Amanda’s fake cancer scheme was in full force, her husband Cory Riley was simultaneously battling his ex-wife Aletta Riley in court for custody of their daughter, Jessa. Per the podcast, he cited his wife’s supposed diagnosis and medical expenses to try and win custody of Jessa and get his child support payments lowered.
Here’s everything we know about Cory Riley’s life today.
Where is Amanda C. Riley’s husband Cory Riley today?
Lionsgate
Cory and Amanda first met when Amanda was a 17-year-old cheerleading coach hired to instruct one of Cory’s then-wife Aletta’s daughters — one of whom actually had cancer — how to dance. Per the podcast, Cory was about 29 years old at the time.
Cory and Aletta eventually divorced, and he married Amanda a few years later. The couple had two sons together, Carter and Connor, whom Amanda would proclaim were “miracles,” since she claimed she shouldn’t have been able to deliver a healthy baby while undergoing cancer treatment.
Though the family lived in the Bay Area outside of San Jose for most of the time Amanda was writing her cancer blog, they moved to Texas after Amanda lost her job as principal at Pacific Point Christian School in Gilroy, California.
“Scamanda” podcast host Charlie Webster told Glamour in a 2023 interview that Cory was “looking after his two kids in Texas” where Amanda was serving her sentence.
According to a divorce petition obtained by Today.com, Cory filed for divorce in January 2024. The filing indicated he was still living in Texas at that time.
