Sanchez, 25, stood before a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Monday morning and declared her innocence.
"When anybody steals from the public, it's egregious, but here's a person who works for the county," said sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Whitmore says Sanchez worked as a civilian employee at the Century Regional Detention Facility. Sanchez is also a reservist with the U.S. Marines. Prosecutors say she lied about being called up for active duty.
"She forged those military activation documents," said Whitmore.
Prosecutors allege that Sanchez forged signatures on documents showing that she would be deployed from March through May. But Whitmore says it wasn't long before the sheriff's department discovered some discrepancies.
"We were just doing our due diligence, checking up. 'How're you doing? Where are you?' The military told us, 'We don't know what you're talking about,'" said Whitmore.
Whitmore says the county kept paying Sanchez's salary, as they do with all reservists who go into active duty. Prosecutors say she was paid $1,036 before the fraud was detected.
"I believe the D.A. is charging her for up to three months. It may be longer than that. I have some indication that it may be up to a year that she was attempting to do this," said Whitmore.
Sanchez has also pursued a career in modeling, as seen on a YouTube video and on other websites.
Sanchez and her attorney were not willing to talk to Eyewitness News after her arraignment on Monday. We have made several attempts to contact Sanchez for her side of the story, but she has not been willing to comment about the case.
Sanchez is on unpaid leave with the sheriff's department and remains free on bond. She is scheduled to be back to court in December for a preliminary hearing.
If convicted, Sanchez faces a maximum of three years in prison for each of the three charges she's facing.
