Brett Favre’s request that the Mississippi Department of Human Services’ lawsuit against him be dismissed has been denied by a circuit court judge.
The ruling comes a month after the Department (MDHS) advised the judge not to acquit Favre of the lawsuit, which revolves around the largest public corruption case in the state’s history. The scandal unfolded over several years after $77 million in federal assistance intended for low-income Mississippi residents was squandered on pet projects by some of the state’s wealthiest and well-connected citizens, including Favre.
The legend of the Green Bay Packers has not been charged with any felony in the case and he previously repaid $1.1 million he received for no-show speaking appearances. Since the repayment of that amount, Favre and more than three dozen other companies and people have been sued by the MDHS.
In particular, Favre is accused of funneling $5 million in welfare funds to a new volleyball arena at his alma mater, South Mississippi, where his daughter was playing the sport at the time, and an additional $1.7 million in state aid for the development of an anti-concussion drug company that counted the retired quarterback among its investors.
“It is clear that Brett Favre is disappointed with the court’s ruling,” a Favre spokesperson told DailyMail.com in response to the decision. “His legal team is exploring the options.”
Favre’s motion to dismiss the Mississippi Department of Human Services lawsuit was denied
He first tried to dismiss the 2022 lawsuit in November before the state reviews claims against him the following month.
Favre’s lawyers then filed the motion in February to dismiss the amended lawsuit, arguing that the MDHS was attempting to deviate from its own failed oversight by suing the Pro Football Hall of Famer.
It is clear that MDHS has sued Favre, a Mississippi national celebrity, to try to deflect responsibility for his own egregious misconduct by allowing tens of millions of dollars of his public funds to be misused – funds for which MDHS admitting it was “exclusively responsible,” read the filing from Favre’s lawyers, including former Donald Trump attorney Eric D. Herschmann.
On Monday, court judge E. Faye Peterson ruled that Favre’s request for dismissal was denied because his argument rested on his version of the facts, which “cannot be considered by the court” due to procedural rules.
Peterson also described Favre’s attorneys’ arguments as “unconvincing and inapplicable.”
In October, Favre claimed he had been “unfairly smeared in the media” for his connection to the $77 million federal welfare scam in his home state of Mississippi.
“I have done nothing wrong and it is time to set things right,” Favre said in a statement to Fox News, breaking the months-long silence on the matter.
Favre used social funds to help pay for a volleyball gym at Southern Miss, his alma mater
The Southern Miss product has not been charged in the case, which has already led to several guilty pleas, but did receive $1.1 million in welfare money for no-show speaking appearances. He has since repaid that amount, but has so far refused to pay $228,000 in interest charged to him by the state.
As a result, Favre is one of 38 individuals or organizations being sued by the state to recover $24 million as the $77 million in federal welfare money, according to Mississippi Today.
In addition, recently surfaced text messages from 2017 revealed his efforts to divert $5 million in welfare toward a new volleyball arena for the University of Southern Mississippi, his alma mater, where his daughter was playing the sport at the time. In a message, Favre wonders: ‘Is there anyway (sic) that the media can find out where [the money] came from and how much?’
But in his statement to Fox News, Favre denied knowing the source of the funding.
“No one ever told me, nor did I know, that funds earmarked for welfare recipients went to the university or me,” Favre said. “I was trying to help my alma mater USM, a Mississippi State public university, raise money for a wellness center. My goal was and always will be to improve the athletic facilities at my university.’
The lawsuit filed in May said Favre was once the largest single outside investor and shareholder in Odyssey Health, a Florida-based company trying to develop a concussion drug. The lawsuit said that in December 2018, Favre urged Prevacus CEO Jake VanLandingham to ask Nancy New, the owner of a Mississippi nonprofit, to use welfare money to invest in the company.
Shannon Sharpe (right), who co-hosts a talk show on FS1, has largely kept quiet about Favre’s lawsuit, but Shad White (left) attacked the Hall of Fame quarterback earlier this month
New, her son Zachary, and John Davis, the former head of the state’s Department of Human Services, all pleaded guilty in the case and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The suit also said that Favre hosted a Prevacus stock sales presentation at his home in January 2019, attended by VanLandingham, John Davis, then-state human services director, New, her son, Zach, and wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr., and that an agreement was reached to spend “substantial” welfare money in Prevacus and later in its affiliate PreSolMD Inc.
The company received $2.1 million over the next 10 months, earmarked for the state’s welfare fund. Officially, the funding funneled to Prevacus was “for the purpose of securing ‘clinical trial sites’ that would be located in Mississippi,” the lawsuit, filed with DailyMail.com, said.
Instead, the lawsuit alleges, the money was used by individuals to buy stock in the company.
The state accused Favre, VanLandingham and others of agreeing in writing to obtain welfare funds as part of a “sham” to conceal financial benefits for the conspirators.
In his statement to Fox News, Favre insisted that everything was handled well on his end, including his efforts to fund Southern Miss athletics with the help of New’s charity.
Government agencies provided the funds to Nancy New’s charity, the Mississippi Community Education Center, which then donated the funds to the university, all with the full knowledge and approval of other government agencies, including the state-wide Institute for Higher Learning, the Governor’s office and the attorney general’s office,” he said.
“I was told that the legal work to ensure these funds could be accepted by the university was done by state attorneys and state employees.”
In some lyrics, Favre seemed concerned that the public would learn about the plan
In a statement to Fox News, Mississippi state auditor Shad White said Favre’s “analysis was flawed” because the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cannot be used to fund such projects.
“The volleyball court was to be used for the benefit of the needy in Hattiesburg,” White said, referring to the Mississippi city where the Southern Miss campus is located. And fast forward to today, what we know now is that the volleyball court was not used to help the needy. So this is an unauthorized use of TANF funds for a number of different reasons. And for those reasons, it doesn’t matter that the lawyer signed this. The bottom line is that it’s just not an acceptable use of TANF funds, and it’s our job as an accounting firm to point that out when we see it.”
In particular, TANF funds may not be used for physical construction projects, such as a new volleyball court on the Southern Miss campus.
And while White admits there’s no documentation showing Favre knew the funding came from the TANF fund, he knew the programs involved were designed to help the poor.
In March, Favre filed libel lawsuits against two former NFL players turned media personalities — Fox Sports’ Shannon Sharpe and YouTube host Pat McAfee — and also against White over allegations that he knowingly used social funds for those personal projects .
YouTube host Pat McAfee was sued by Favre for defamation after claims he made about the QB
Sharpe called Favre a “sleazeball” on his FS1 show in September, accusing the retired quarterback of knowingly stealing $1.1 million in welfare funds from Mississippi in exchange for speeches he never gave. McAfee accused him of “stealing the poor people of Mississippi,” while White claimed that Favre knew the origins of the social funds.
McAfee has since filed a motion to dismiss Favre’s lawsuit against him.
The state recently acquired WWE wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. indicted for his alleged involvement in the scheme.
The son of the legendary “Million Dollar Man” wasted millions of dollars in welfare money intended for some of the most needy people in the country, federal prosecutors say.
DiBiase Jr., 40, is accused of receiving $3 million for welfare purposes he never intended to provide, and appeared in court in Jackson, Mississippi, last week.