Massachusetts

Woman accused of posing as Boston student in court. Is a plea deal near?

A scheduled lobby conference was continued one day until Friday morning and has now been taken off the list altogether

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Shelby Hewitt, the woman accused of posing as a Boston student, appeared briefly in court on Thursday. Her hearing was postponed until Friday morning.

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The woman accused of posing as a Boston student appeared briefly in court on Thursday morning.

Thirty-two-year-old Shelby Hewitt is accused of enrolling in three Boston high schools from 2021-2023 -- all while working for the state Department of Children and Families. She was arrested in June of 2023 and is now facing forgery and fraud charges.

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Hewitt has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer says she has a history of mental illness.

Her case was scheduled for a lobby conference in Suffolk Superior Court on Thursday morning, and she appeared in court with her lawyer, who immediately requested a sidebar with the judge.

Hewitt sat quietly in court, visibly shaking, as the lawyers and the judge spoke in private.

After just a few minutes, the judge said the hearing had been continued for one day, with Hewitt scheduled to return to court at 9 a.m. on Friday. That hearing was later taken off the case list for Friday. A representative said the next court date was the start of the trial on Jan. 14.

Prosecutors said the continuance was to see if the case could potentially be resolved by a plea deal. They said the two sides are working on trying to reach a plea in the next few weeks, but it was unlikely to happen by Friday.

Hewitt refused comment as she left court Thursday.

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