Pennsylvania beauty queen jailed after faking cancer, raising thousands

Miss Pennsylvania U.S. worldwide was jailed for faking cancer and scamming people out of thousands of dollars.

Butler’s Beauties, the company that sponsors the pageant, says in a Facebook page statement that they were also “led to believe that she was dealing with this frightful disease” and are making her return her crown and sash.

According to state police fundraisers were held to help her with medical bills.

Police arrested Brandi Lee Weaver-Gates, 23, of Bellefonte, Centre County, Tuesday and charged her with theft by deception and receiving stolen property.

In September 2013 a man named Jerry King, who lost two uncles to leukaemia, organised a $10 a head fundraiser for her called “Brandi’s Benefit Bash”. Weaver-Gates, who is a former Miss Pennsylvania U.S. global pageant victor, would tell people she was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, investigators and court documents said.

He said the allegations came to light via an anonymous letter that claimed she couldn’t name any of her doctors.

“And in speaking with all of the locations, it was discovered that she never treated any type of treatment at any of those locations”, he said.

State police say there is no evidence that Weaver-Gates ever had treatment for cancer.

Investigators say her scheme was so elaborate, she convinced family members to drive her to several of the country’s leading cancer hospitals.

“We generally donate money or a gift certificate and we donated a $100 gift certificate that they were going to raffle off”, said Paul Rupeka, owner of Ink Ink Tattoo Pallor.