Mary Wickersham, 77, was the manager director of the Miss Florida Scholarship Program from 2002 till she left her place in 2018. After her departure, new management started to note lacking funds and monetary irregularities.
Following an investigation, Wickersham (also called Mary Sullivan) was arrested in 2022, and was sentenced to fifteen months in jail this Wednesday after pleading responsible to stealing a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} supposed for the scholarship program over the course of seven years. The previous pageant director should pay $243,000 in restitution for her crime.
“Ms. Wickersham not solely stole charitable donations from the Scholarship Program but in addition from two native charitable organizations and a neighborhood enterprise affiliated with Miss Florida,” Troy Walker, Florida Division of Legislation Enforcement particular agent in cost, stated after her arrest in 2022.
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In 2011, Wickersham established a company known as Miss Florida LLC, and opened a checking account underneath the identical title. She then used the account to redirect a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} to her account and used her place as director to solicit donations from sponsors and donors underneath the impression that the funds have been going to the scholarship program.
“The truth is, Wickersham used the cash for her personal private use and achieve,” the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace stated in a press launch.
Donations supposed for scholarship recipients have been spent on all the things from purchasing sprees, utilities, on-line relationship charges, house items, a cleansing service, and eating out.
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