The sentencing of a 38-year-old Dundalk woman accused of bilking friends by pretending she had terminal cancer has been postponed until Oct. 28.

Dina Perouty-Leone, a 1990 graduate of Dundalk High School and the mother of two teenagers, faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. Initially charged with four theft and conspiracy counts, she pleaded guilty in June to a single charge of felony theft.

The sentencing by Baltimore County Circuit Judge John G. Turnbull II had been set for Tuesday, but was rescheduled after Perouty-Leone retained an attorney new to her case, John M. Hassett.

Perouty-Leone's claims of having cancer go back to at least 2004, when she wrote an Internet posting indicating her solidarity with fellow sufferers. More recently, according to prosecutor Adam D. Lippe, she collected thousands of dollars from friends and acquaintances after telling them that she had no health insurance and would die unless they could pay for her treatment of stomach cancer.

nick.madigan@baltsun.com