Natalie Greene, from victim to defendant: The case against a former congressman's aide charged with faking a political attack

Natalie Greene, a former aide to a New Jersey congressman, was found manacled, her body lacerated and screaming in a municipal park in July. On her body was written the message "Trump Who**." All this, according to the prosecution, she did to herself.

Special prosecutor Alina Habba announced Tuesday conspiracy and deception charges against the young woman from Ocean City, NJ. If found guilty, Greene could receive up to 10 years in prison.

Here are the details of the case against the former aide to Rep. Jefferson Van Drew.

'He has a gun, he has a gun': The alleged attack against Greene

According to court documents, last July 23, the Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Police Department received a call for help:

"They were attacking her. They were like talking about politics and stuff. They were like calling her names... And they said they had a gun and they had a gun."

The call, from the township's nature park, was from a friend of Greene's, identified as conspirator 1. According to her, "They were like calling her like racist, calling her a who**, like like."

In later interviews, Greene and her friend would add details: they had been attacked by three unknown men, who at gunpoint tied her up with black cable ties. Her friend escaped.

As the alleged co-conspirator called 911, one of the attackers reportedly slashed her body several times, even writing in marker, "Trump Who**."

Both insisted that the attackers knew Greene worked for Congressman Van Drew. In fact, they allegedly wrote in marker on her body that the politician was a racist.

When police found her, with the help of a sniffer dog, she was on the floor, bound hand and foot, her shirt over her face, and screaming "he has a gun; he has a gun."

Greene also claimed that the congressman's office had received threats, though none directed at her personally. "So many," she told investigators. "We keep all of our hate mail. We recently got like, a letter with like powder in it and stuff."

The evidence against Greene

Greene's version began to crumble the very night of the alleged attack.

The police officers asked, in the same park, to search the Maserati in which the victims arrived at the park. Inside, they found "two black zip ties that were similar to the black zip ties that were used to restrain Greene," according to the complaint. "The officers also found a roll of Pro Essential duct tape."

Checking Conspirator 1's phone, authorities noted that days earlier she had searched for, "zip ties near me." Tracing their movements they found that the individual had gone to a Dollar General Store where they sold both cable ties and tape.

Greene's phone offered one more detail: she had sought out and contacted a "scarification artist," a professional dedicated to marking incisions in the skin. They traced her steps to a studio in Pennsylvania.

There, they found that she had paid $500 in cash and obtained images of the work. The marks "follow the exact same pattern" as the ones she had in the hospital:

What charges Greene faces

The former aide faces one count of conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and another count of making false statements to federal law enforcement.

Both carry each a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Greene made her first court appearance Thursday. She was released on bail without surety in the amount of $200,000.

Access the indictment