Mother once targeted for murder to use scholarship from porn site to attend Troy University
By Jeremy Gray | jgray@al.com
A mother in Texas who was once the target of an alleged murder-for-hire plot will use a $25,000 Pornhub scholarship to attend Troy University.
MaryAnn Uribe was one of more than 1,000 to apply for the first ever Pornhub Cares scholarship.
"MaryAnn epitomizes the drive for determination and success; from her indelible personality, to the resiliency she's shown to achieve her goals. She has provided for others throughout her life, even in light of immense adversity and we're all so proud to be naming her as the scholarship recipient," a statement on the website reads.
Pornhub, a video sharing website said to the largest porn site on the internet, offered the scholarship to anyone with a GPA of 3.2 or higher. Applicants had to submit a 1,000 word essay and short video explaining how they have helped others.
In her video, Uribe said she sent a mass text message asking people to tell her how she had helped them.
"The greatest gift one can give," one person wrote in reply to Uribe, "is their time, talents and skills. You gave me all that when I thought my world was collapsing."
Uribe, a high school dropout and 48-year-old mother who recently finished a two-year program at a community college, told The Washington Post she hopes to use the money to get a bachelor's degree from Troy.
Perhaps what made Uribe stand out from other applicants is the stand she says she took against an "ambulance chasing" company.
The Post reports: "In 2011, Uribe was working as an administrator at a San Antonio law firm when she reported her bosses to authorities for allegedly committing felony barratry, a crime in Texas that prohibits lawyers from soliciting clients for financial gain.
"Desperate to silence Uribe as a witness and stung by betrayal, one of the lawyers then allegedly hatched a plot to have Uribe killed. The murder-for-hire scheme unraveled after the would-be hitman went to the Texas Rangers.
Wearing a wire, the informant caught the lawyer on tape saying that he "wanted something to happen to Uribe," according to an affidavit, and agreed to pay for it. The lawyer resigned from the state bar and is scheduled to go on trial in Bexar County, Tex., in April 2016 on charges of solicitation of capital murder and barratry. His law partner will go on trial for barratry charges in April 2016.
"The lawyers have denied the allegations and described Uribe as a disgruntled employee."
Uribe told MySanAntonio.com she plans to study political science.
That dream may have once "seemed like a far-fetched idea considering Uribe's age had phased her out of many scholarship opportunities, but thanks to the X-rated site, the lover of learning will earn her degree from Troy University," that report stated.
Uribe said she was in complete shock when she received the email Monday notifying her she'd been selected from a pool of thousands of applicants to receive the prize.
"I couldn't believe it," Uribe said in a Wednesday phone interview with mySA.com. "I busted out crying."