Former Executive Director of Miss Florida Scholarship Program Sentenced to Federal Prison for Fraud

MIAMI – A federal district judge in Miami has sentenced 77-year-old Mary Wickersham to 15 months in prison and ordered her to pay $243,000 in restitution for stealing money intended for the Miss Florida Scholarship Program over the course of seven years. Wickersham pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Since 2002, Wickersham served as the Executive Director of the Miss Florida Scholarship Program. The Miss Florida Scholarship Program offers educational and financial assistance to young women across the state. In 2011, Wickersham formed a Florida corporation named “Miss Florida LLC” and used it to open a bank account in the same name. She did so without the knowledge or consent of the Miss Florida Scholarship Program. Wickersham then redirected hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Miss Florida LLC bank account, which she controlled, by using her position as Executive Director to solicit donations from the program’s recurring business sponsors and donors, all while representing that those monies would be used to fund scholarships for the Miss Florida Program women. In fact, Wickersham used the money for her own personal use and gain.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida and Inspector in Charge Juan A. Vargas of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Miami Division, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman.

USPIS Miami investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Abbie Waxman and Eduardo Gardea Jr. prosecuted it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Klco is handling asset forfeiture.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-20057.

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