The former city of Chattanooga employee who is already facing a nine-count state indictment on a cancer scam is also looking at federal charges, officials said Monday.
The attorney for Keele Maynor and the state prosecutor told Criminal Court Judge Don Poole that the federal charges are in process.
Prosecutor Lance Pope said federal prosecutor John MacCoon is working with an attorney in the federal public defender's office on a proposed plea deal that would bypass the federal grand jury.
He said the federal public defender was given about two weeks to decide on the plea deal.
That information came out during a Monday morning bond hearing before Judge Poole, who agreed to lower the bond from $100,000 to $50,000.
Public Defender Ardena Garth said Ms. Maynor's family could afford about a $40,000 bond.
Toby Hewitt, a city detective, said the city is out $79,400 in connection with cancer claims made by Ms. Maynor, including the times fellow employees donated personal leave time to her.
He said a number of local groups dealing with such cancer cases are out over $100,000.
Officials said Ms. Maynor has two prior felony convictions - feloniously obtaining food stamps and feloniously obtaining care for her dependent children.
Ms. Maynor briefly took the witness stand and said she moved with her mother to Union City, Ga., "to get away from the media."
She said after reports got out that she had admitted to a city supervisor about the alleged scam that reporters began "camping out" at her house.
Ms. Maynor, who was in handcuffs and leg irons, also said she needed a job to support her three children and she did not believe she could get one in Chattanooga. She said she worked as a pharmacy tech at Krogers and at Xaxby's in Union City.
She said she did not object to getting a mental assessment and said she would not leave Hamilton County, if released.