Beauty queen who faked cancer for cash sentenced to prison

BELLEFONTE, Pa. -- A former Pennsylvania beauty queen who faked having leukemia to benefit from fundraisers has been sentenced to between two and four years in prison.

WJAC-TV reports that a judge sentenced 24-year-old Brandi Weaver-Gates on Tuesday. She pleaded guilty last month to several theft-related charges. She told a judge then that she faked the illness to get more attention from her family.

Weaver-Gates has been jailed since her arrest in August, and that time will be credited toward her sentence.

Authorities believe she conned at least 165 people into donating nearly $30,000 through a bingo event in April and other fundraisers since August 2013.


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fake-cancer-beauty-queen-brandi-weaver-gates-sentenced-pennsylvania/