Plea deal for adult woman accused of posing as Boston high school student falls apart
Hewitt, 34, has pleaded not guilty to charges including of forgery of a document, identity fraud and violating the standards of conduct for a public employee, records show. State payroll records show Hewitt was employed by the Department of Children and Families when prosecutors say she forged documents to enroll in several Boston high schools for the 2022 - 23 school year.
At the hearing Tuesday, Hewitt's defense attorney, Timothy Flaherty, told the presiding judge that Hewitt would only accept a plea deal if her case were continued without a finding, allowing her to avoid a guilty plea. But prosecutors would only accept an agreement where Hewitt pleaded guilty, The Boston Globe reported.
'It's clear to me the commonwealth is not willing to proceed with a plea unless there is a guilty finding... We've done what we can today,' Judge Debra Squires-Lee said, according to NBC Boston.
Squires-Lee said the agreement would have recommended a sentence of probation, mental health treatment and restitution for Hewitt, according to the Globe.
If no agreement is reached, Hewitt is scheduled to go on trial in February 2026.
Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper said Hewitt used the transfer process to enroll in Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Brighton High School and English High School under various names.
'I am deeply troubled that an adult would breach the trust of our school communities by posing as a student. This appears to be a case of extremely sophisticated fraud,' Skipper said in 2023.
Hewitt's alleged fraud unraveled when administrators at English High School in Jamaica Plain contacted authorities after uncovering some suspicious paperwork from a student, according to a police report.
School officials told police they became concerned after a student's parent said they would be withdrawing their daughter and enrolling her into St. Columbkille School because she was being bullied. But the student had enrolled just a week prior and school staff had only just begun addressing the reported bullying, according to the police report.
A hearing in Hewitt's case is scheduled for Sept. 30. Flaherty, her lawyer, said he would 'report back immediately' if an agreement on a plea was reached, the Globe reported.
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