A state prison inmate apparently found a friend in Pennsylvania.

University employee Lisa Sprouse reported to University Police Services that numerous student aid documents were forged between July 1992 and July 1993. A female inmate at the State Correctional Institute in Muncy, Pa., whose name police are not releasing, allegedly falsified the documents and received $1,900 -- but not from the University.

Police said the woman corresponded with a male pen pal in Philadelphia and convinced him that she was a student at Penn State. The woman somehow obtained several University student aid forms and forged them so it appeared she was in need of financial assistance. She then sent the forms to the man in Philadelphia.

The man, in an act of kindness, sent her the money, thinking that it was to be used for tuition and books, police said.

The case has been turned over to the U.S. Postal Service. Police said the woman is serving two life sentences for unrelated charges.