BELLEFONTE, PA – Brandi Weaver-Gates, the 2015 winner of a Miss Pennsylvania offshoot pageant, is facing felony charges after lying about having cancer and raking in thousands of dollars in donations.
Weaver-Gates, 23, has been charged with theft by deception and receiving stolen property after investigators say she took money raised from events on her behalf to help pay for her medical bills as she battled chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
However, the state police investigator said Weaver-Gates never had the disease and called her efforts to make people believe she did “an elaborate scheme.” He’s not joking, either.
On top of having relatives drive her to John Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore and make them wait in the lobby for hours as she went to another part of the hospital to pretend to have treatment, she would also shave her head to appear as a cancer patient.
These relatives may also include her own parents. In one interview she described telling her parents about her diagnosis was one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to do.
“I know that’s a parent’s worst fear, possibly losing a child. That was the hardest part, making my parents go through this. I mean, I know I’m not making them, but that’s how it feels,” Weaver-Gates said.
There were also multiple fundraisers created to help pay her medical bills, one of them raising $14,000.
“It was amazing. I didn’t know half of the people there. It really did surprise me,” Weaver-Gates said about the fundraiser. “It speaks to how great our community is. They wanted to come and support someone who is going through a hard time in their life.”
Police were tipped off by an anonymous person who said that Weaver-Gate could not name any of her doctors and that they called Johns Hopkins to verify she had never been a patient there.
If this can be used as a lesson to any of you reading this, it is not to trust these types of fundraisers without getting proof. Stick with helping Dreamin’ Demon stay alive. We serve a much needed public service and, if you don’t donate, there is a possibility that the Great Pazuzu may visit you in your sleep and swallow your soul.
Read more: http://www.dreamindemon.com/2015/08...ergates-arrested-faking-cancer/#ixzz3icFUxIoo