A northeast Iowa man who submitted a fake obituary to a newspaper was sentenced to jail.

James Snyder had been accused with writing the false obituary for his girlfriend's 17-year-old son last December to be excused from work.

The obituary published by the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier said the teen passed away from a lengthy illness.

Snyder was charged with altering records. He called on an Alford plea and was meted a year in jail suspended to seven days.

The Alford plea qualifies that Snyder admits no guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors have enough proof to convict him.

On the other hand, the teen's mother, Mary Jo Elizabeth, was tried for being an accessory and given 30 days in jail suspended to one year of probation.