A Toronto woman who defrauded a national cancer charity was given a rare chance to avoid jail — but squandered it within days by fabricating employment records in an attempt to escape house arrest, a judge has ruled.
Lily Ayelazuno, 31, was sent to jail last Wednesday after Ontario Court of Justice found she had repeatedly breached the conditions of her conditional sentence by inventing jobs that did not exist.
Ayelazuno had been serving a community-based sentence imposed last May after she pleaded guilty to defrauding Ovarian Cancer Canada of more than $60,000. The sentence allowed her to leave home for legitimate employment — an exception she quickly tried to exploit.
According to court findings, Ayelazuno created fake contracts, pay stubs and email correspondence claiming she was employed as a research assistant at University Health Network and as a bartender at a Joey restaurant. She even submitted documents bearing the copied electronic signature of a senior UHN executive and fabricated emails from a real restaurant manager.
The false paperwork was submitted to justify removing her GPS ankle monitor, which she claimed interfered with her ability to work.
The deception unravelled after her conditional sentence supervisor and Crown prosecutors raised concerns about inconsistencies in the documents. Police investigations confirmed that Ayelazuno had been terminated from UHN for cause in July 2024 and had no employment with Joey Restaurant Group in 2025. Both organizations confirmed the records were fabricated.
Returning to the same courtroom that had granted her leniency, Ayelazuno faced sharp criticism from Ontario Court Justice Hafeez Amarshi, who terminated the conditional sentence and ordered her to serve the remaining 21 months in custody.
“I was impressed by what you told me about your ambitions and wanting to change your life,” Amarshi told her. “But what you say and what you do is inconsistent. In the end, it doesn’t matter how bright or talented you are if you’re fundamentally dishonest.”
The judge said he was struck by the level of planning and effort Ayelazuno put into deceiving authorities.
“If you had put that same energy into pro-social conduct, you would have had positive outcomes,” Amarshi said. “Instead, you are back in this courtroom being sentenced.”
Ayelazuno was briefly allowed to hug her mother before being taken into custody.
The original conditional sentence was imposed after the court cited partial restitution to the charity and Ayelazuno’s stated prospects for rehabilitation. But Amarshi concluded that she began scheming to undermine the sentence almost immediately.
“It is clear she had no intention of abiding by the conditions,” the judge said, citing “multiple instances of deceit involving sophistication, effort and planning.”
At the breach hearing, Ayelazuno testified that health concerns and tension at home contributed to her actions. Her lawyer urged the court to preserve the conditional sentence or impose a partial jail term followed by community supervision. The Crown argued for full incarceration.
Amarshi agreed with the Crown, finding Ayelazuno’s prospects for rehabilitation to be “dim” and warning that public confidence in conditional sentencing depends on meaningful enforcement.
“The facts of this case call out for one clear outcome,” he said.
In a letter previously sent to the court, Ayelazuno had written: “I view this sentence as an opportunity for growth and accountability, and I have no intention of doing anything to jeopardize it.”