On charges of failure to report $30,000 while applying for public assistance benefits, "Octomom" Nadya Suleman pleaded not guilty on Friday, the Associated Press reported.
Accused of earning $30,000 while using public assistance benefits, the 38-year-old single mother of 14 children was released on her own recognizance after arraignment in Los Angeles County Superior Court for three counts of welfare fraud.
According to the AP, the case will be tried by authorities to be resolved without a trial, Deputy District Attorney Bill Clark said. Suleman is expected to report to the county's early disposition court on Feb. 3.
"If she can pay the money back, that makes a big difference," he said.
Appearing before Judge Roberto Longoria for a few moments, Suleman quietly consented upon being asked whether she understood that she was waiving her right to a preliminary hearing, the AP reported. When Suleman applied for welfare last year, she failed to disclose residuals from videos and money she was paid for personal appearances, authorities said.
"She was running short on money. She went to the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services and asked for food stamps," Clark told reporters outside court. "And they gave them to her."
Soon after, reports started to appear about how she was earning money while collecting the welfare on the side. It was reported by many people to the authorities.
According to the AP, "while she might have qualified for some public assistance during that time, he said, authorities calculated that she collected $16,000 more than she should have and they want that back."
"That's taxpayer money," Clark said.
Suleman is charged with one count of aid by misrepresentation and two counts of perjury by false application. She could face five years and eight months in prison is she gets convicted. It's unlikely that Suleman will face that much time or any time behind bars at all, the AP reported.
"She's got 14 children," she said. "We'll try and work out a deal for her."
Suleman, whose real name is Natalie Denise Suleman, shot to fame on Jan. 26, 2009, when she gave birth at a Southern California hospital to eight children, who quickly became the world's longest-surviving octuplets, according to the AP.
Similar to the six older children, the rest of the children were all conceived by in-vitro fertilization. The father's identity has never been disclosed by Suleman.
After learning that her physician had actually implanted 12 embryos in her womb, the state Medical Board revoked his license, the AP reported.
The additional children have been a struggle to support for her since the beginning. Doing a porn video, posing topless for various publications, dancing in a Florida strip club and taking part in so-called celebrity boxing matches were her means of making money.
After buying a home in 2010, she defaulted on payments and the lender foreclosed.
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