Posted on 08/12/2015 10:55:15 AM PDT by csvset
A Pennsylvania beauty queen is facing felony charges for allegedly raising thousands of dollars from donors whom she tricked into believing she was battling cancer, police say.
Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates, a 23-year-old reigning Miss Pennsylvania U.S. International, was arrested Tuesday and charged with theft by deception and receiving stolen property, NBC affiliate WJAC reported. Her bond was set at $150,000, and she remains jailed at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Pennsylvania State Police said they began looking into the case after receiving an anonymous letter.
"When confronted with what the investigation revealed, the accused advised that she did not want to incriminate herself and invoked her right to an attorney," police said in a statement.
Weaver-Gates allegedly carried out her "elaborate scheme" over the course of two years — going as far as shaving her head and having family members drive her to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to get treatment.
She also held fundraisers in attempt to swindle money, police said. Police said one event in April — called "Bingo for Brandi" — apparently raised $14,000.
"It speaks to how great our community is," Weaver-Gates later told The Centre County Gazette. "They wanted to come and support someone who is going through a hard time in their life."
Weaver-Gates claimed she was first diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in March 2013, according to the Centre Daily Times.
"I didn't know how to tell my family and even though they were there through it all, it still feels like (you're) battling it alone because they don't understand," she told the newspaper in an interview last year.
Upon her arrest on Tuesday, Butler's Beauties, which coordinates Miss Pennsylvania U.S. International, said in a statement that she has been stripped of her title. The pageant's organizers said that they, too, believe they were duped.
"Butler's Beauties believes that with a crown and sash you can accomplish many great things as a role model, spokesmodel and community leader as a beauty pageant queen," the statement said. "When you deceive the public and take people's money that is under the pretense of fraud, we will not tolerate those actions."
They added that she must return her sash and crown upon being released from jail.
Beauty Queen of what? The trailer park?
She may be Miss Pennsylvania...but she ain’t no beauty queen.
I’ll believe you know what you’re talking about
Who was the runner up, bruce jenner?
Geez, she looks to be almost 40, not 23. The judges must have been bribed or something.
Anyone know what is “Miss USA International?”..sounds like a beauty pagent for illegals..
Miss U.S. International is the official United States of America (USA) preliminary to Miss International Beauty Pageant (officially titled The International Beauty Pageant).
The USA has sent a representative to the Miss International pageant since its inception in 1960. The only year a representative was not sent was in 2006.
The current Miss U.S. International is Lindsay Becker of Minnesota who was crowned on June 25, 2015 in Orlando, Florida.
Wait just a sec here...Trump owns Miss USA and Miss Universe...so why hasn’t he sued them for...I’m sure he can find something....it sounds like a rip-off..
Stock said Weaver-Gates once asked her sister to drive her to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for fake treatments. Her sister waited in the lobby for hours while Weaver-Gates hid in the hospital, according to WJACTV.com.
The Penn State student also allegedly told people she was a patient at Geisinger Medical Center and UPMC Medical Centers, although neither had her listed as a patient.
Fundraisers were set up to help the pageant star with her “medical treatments”. The most recent, “Bingo for Brandi” in April, raised $US14,000 ($19,000).
Weaver-Gates said she revealed her “diagnosis” to her parents in March 2013.
Sad
Some of the people who do this probably have a real mental illness of some kind
Others are just lying weasels
Don’t know which she is.
A mental weasel?
Meth Acne
I doubt it. She’s not skinny enough, and her teeth seem to be intact.
I’d say Munchhausen Syndrome, and regular acne.
This mental illness causes people to do some sick stuff.
They just convicted a woman here of putting human feces in her child’s IV.
Haha, maybe so. :)
Decent chassis, I agree.
...and not very well.
So she’s a butterface?
Yeah, she’s pretty cute in that one. A shame she felt the need to fabricate such a lie.
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