The Mississippi Supreme Court won’t remove former NFL quarterback Brett Favre as a defendant in a civil lawsuit in the ongoing welfare fund scandal.
The panel of three justices denied an appeal from Favre in a ruling on Wednesday, Aug. 9.
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The lawsuit, filed by the Department of Human Services in 2022, seeks to recover millions of dollars of welfare money intended for some of the poorest people in the state.
Millions in welfare dollars was allegedly misspent on sports arenas and facilities proposed by Favre.
The money was meant for low-income Mississippi residents, prosecutors say.
Favre is accused of using his political and business connections to fund his construction projects from 2016 to 2019, prosecutors say.
The projects included: $5 million for a volleyball arena at his alma mater the University of Southern Mississippi where his daughter was a volleyball player, and $1.7 million toward development of a concussion treatment drug.
Favre’s attorneys argued that he was not at fault. However, attorneys for the state responded that Favre took $1.1 million from a non-profit organization “for speeches he never made.”
His attorneys said Favre repaid that money.
But he has not repaid $1.7 million he received for his drug company, Prevacus, nor the $5 million he spent on a volleyball facility at USM, the state attorneys wrote.