Current:Home > MyMississippi Supreme Court won’t remove Brett Favre from lawsuit in welfare fraud case-LoTradeCoin
Mississippi Supreme Court won’t remove Brett Favre from lawsuit in welfare fraud case
View Date:2025-01-15 04:53:26
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – The Mississippi Supreme Court says it will not remove NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit that seeks to recover millions of dollars of misspent welfare money meant to help some of the poorest people in the United States.
A panel of three justices issued a brief ruling Wednesday, denying an appeal from Favre.
His attorneys said in written arguments in May that the Mississippi Department of Human Services is making “utterly meritless” legal arguments in suing the retired quarterback.
On April 24, Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson denied Favre’s request to be removed from the lawsuit, which has more than three dozen people or businesses as defendants. Favre asked the Supreme Court to overturn Peterson’s decision.
Millions of federal welfare dollars for low-income Mississippi residents were squandered on projects supported by wealthy or well-connected people from 2016 to 2019, prosecutors say.
The Department of Human Services’ lawsuit, filed in 2022, says money from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program was improperly spent, including on projects Favre supported: $5 million for a volleyball arena at the university he attended and where Favre’s daughter played the sport, and $1.7 million toward development of a concussion treatment drug.
No criminal charges have been brought against Favre, although a former department director and other people have pleaded guilty to their part in the misspending.
In their filing to the state Supreme Court, Favre’s attorneys argued that Department of Human Services officials and Nancy New, who directed a nonprofit organization with Human Services contracts, “concocted and carried out the scheme” to direct welfare money toward a volleyball center, and that Favre was not part of the effort.
Attorneys for the state responded that Favre took $1.1 million in TANF money from Nancy New “for speeches he never made.”
“Favre repaid that, but he has neither repaid the $1.7 million he arranged for his drug company, Prevacus, to receive in exchange for giving Nancy New stock, nor the $5 million he orchestrated the USM Athletic Department to receive for a volleyball facility,” the state attorneys wrote.
Favre’s attorneys argued the Department of Human Services is suing the NFL Hall of Famer to deflect from the department’s own role in allowing fraud, and they filed multiple sets of papers seeking to have him dismissed from the suit.
State attorneys wrote in March that Favre’s attorneys had given the court “a long press release” rather than legal arguments in trying to get him out of the lawsuit. The state attorneys wrote in May that the Mississippi Supreme Court does not grant appeals “based on whether a defendant is famous, or on speculations about the plaintiff’s motives, or on fact disputes.”
veryGood! (289)
Related
- Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
- Her job is to care for survivors of sexual assault. Why aren't there more like her?
- Missing sub passenger knew risks of deep ocean exploration: If something goes wrong, you are not coming back
- The truth about teens, social media and the mental health crisis
- 2 striking teacher unions in Massachusetts face growing fines for refusing to return to classroom
- Supreme Court extends freeze on changes to abortion pill access until Friday
- Eli Lilly says an experimental drug slows Alzheimer's worsening
- What’s an Electric Car Champion Doing in Romney’s Inner Circle?
- One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
- 7-year-old accidentally shoots and kills 5-year-old in Kentucky
Ranking
- Blake Snell free agent rumors: Best fits for two-time Cy Young winner
- Irina Shayk Proves Lingerie Can Be High-Fashion With Risqué Cannes Film Festival Look
- Industrial Strength: How the U.S. Government Hid Fracking’s Risks to Drinking Water
- Search for British actor Julian Sands resumes 5 months after he was reported missing
- What do nails have to say about your health? Experts answer your FAQs.
- Some people get sick from VR. Why?
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Rep Slams Abhorrent Allegations About Car Chase Being a PR Stunt
- One way to prevent gun violence? Treat it as a public health issue
Recommendation
-
The Office's Kate Flannery Defends John Krasinski's Sexiest Man Alive Win
-
How Social Media Use Impacts Teen Mental Health
-
North Dakota governor signs law limiting trans health care
-
What is the birthstone for August? These three gems represent the month of August.
-
Prosecutors say some erroneous evidence was given jurors at ex-Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery trial
-
Taxpayers no longer have to fear the IRS knocking on their doors. IRS is ending practice.
-
Candace Cameron Bure Reacts to Claims That She Lied About Not Eating Fast Food for 20 Years
-
Is coconut water an electrolyte boost or just empty calories?