Tue Sep 6,10:17 PM ET
LOS ANGELES - The mother of the boy who accusedof molesting him pleaded not guilty Tuesday to welfare fraud.
The woman, who is not being named by The Associated Press because that would identify her son, entered the plea in Superior Court to four felony counts of "perjury by false application for aid" and one count of "aid by misrepresentation," a violation of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
The 37-year-old woman was released without bail pending an Oct. 28 hearing.
Prosecutors alleged that she collected $18,782 in fraudulently obtained welfare payments between November 2001 and March 2003 by failing to disclose money she had received from a lawsuit settlement.
Each perjury charge carries a potential sentence of two to four years in prison. The welfare code violation carries a potential sentence of 16 months to three years.
The woman's attorney, Patricia Hattersley, said she and her client did not have any comment.
Jackson was acquitted in June of charges that he plied her underage son with liquor and molested him at his Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara County.
During the criminal trial, she invoked her Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and refused to testify about the welfare matter.
After Jackson was acquitted, many jurors said her lack of credibility was a major factor in their verdicts.
A criminal complaint filed by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Bureau of Fraud and Corruption Prosecutions said authorities learned of the fraud allegations through a tip from a private investigator. Authorities said they received the tip on Feb. 2, 2005, just before the Jackson trial began.
After a final piece of videotaped testimony from the accuser in the Michael Jackson case, the defense rested on Friday.

The interview was taped by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department on July 6, 2003.  The contents of the tape mostly repeated earlier testimony given by the boy describing Michael Jackson's alleged acts of molestation.  Judge Rodney S. Melville instructed the jurors "only to observe the demeanor, manner and attitude of the witness", and that the boy's "statements are not to be considered for the truth of the matter stated."

Closing arguments could begin as early as Wednesday.