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Brett Favre Summay - NGT - long

mfjmfj : 10/1/2022 4:27 pm
I know there is a thread on this, but after spending an hour or two down the rabbit hole, I though I would summarize what I found. If anyone cares.

A couple of preliminaries:

1) I have no attachment to BF one way or the other.
2) By background, I am an attorney, and spent most of my professional life working in the ultra high net worth space. I have a lot of theoretical and practical knowledge about this parts of this.

The crime:

1). Definitely money went from public funds intended for needy families to pay for a volleyball stadium (and other things). Certainly sounds like a misappropriation of funds. Lots of indictments for this. What I have not seen is any evidence that the people involved were getting personally enriched. Not really clear why someone would do this? It actually seems like the gov't administrators were using the money on their pet projects rather than intended purpose (i.e. vball stadium not food for families). This is bad but different than skimming. On the other hand it is possible that there is serious skimming that is not evident in what I read.

2). Lot of politics involved as the sitting Governor, and both the Democratic and Republican candidate were caught up to some extent.

BF:

1). BF got paid $1.1MM to do appearances to raise money for the stadium (or for a non-profit not quite clear). Money came through the same group that was misappropriating funds. BF's behavior seems perfectly legal as I am sure he often gets paid to do appearances. Probably smarmy as he was also raising money for the stadium. Even if he knows where the money is coming from (seems unlikely) I think he is probably legally fine. He has paid the money back, although they had to twist his arm to get it all.

2). Favre 4 Hope gave money to USM, which is probably a stretch from its stated mission. Impossible to tell how much of a deal this is without seeing the foundation docs and who is on the board of directors/management of foundation. Bottom line this is almost certainly not a problem, legally. Again seems smarmy.

3 BF promised to get the vball stadium built and tried to get everyone to chip in. He was pushy and did not want to have to fund himself (although he probably could have). In all I have read, it does not appear that he has done anything illegal. The morality of it you will have to judge yourself.

A good chance this post ages badly, as it sounds like more indictments are to come. There may be a lot we don't yet know.

Hopefully sharing this means I did not totally waste my time going through all of it.
This is what I've been thinking  
allstarjim : 10/1/2022 4:44 pm : link
Lobbying for funds isn't illegal...someone might go down and get prison time but it seems to me that it would be the people that misappropriated the funds.

I can ask the government all day to pay my mortgage, they have the responsibility to say 'no', but it's not illegal for me to ask.
When I first read about this it sounded like Governor  
steve in ky : 10/1/2022 4:51 pm : link
And whoever is in charge of those welfare funds are the only one that maybe crossed a legal line. BF was just an entitled jerk.
It all sound unethical but not illegal  
larryflower37 : 10/1/2022 6:43 pm : link
The charity part is just slimeball stuff, raise money at cancer events and funnel to your kids volleyball while I am sure it was given to a non-profit (schools) its just sketchy.
The welfare fraud sounds like he can claim he didnt know where the money came from, I just don't buy it.
I mean is any of this surprising?  
Returning Video Tapes : 10/1/2022 7:20 pm : link
Favre was a known dipshit since he got into the league. Then he rehabbed his image by quitting drinking or whatever. But then the stories start leaking out of GB that he’s still a dipshit and it wasn’t just the partying. Then the dick pick scandal.

Why so many grown men idolize this ass clown I’ll have no idea, by all accounts he’s been an inlikeable asshole everywhere he went that thought he was above it all. No surprise he thought his daughters volleyball court was more important than welfare and medical research. What an asshole.

The "no skimming" thing isn't so clear, is it?  
81_Great_Dane : 10/1/2022 7:27 pm : link
Since Favre was supposed to have been paid quite a lot of money for speaking fees, for appearances he never made. This was clear-cut enough that he had to make restitution, but isn't being prosecuted, right?

I think those funds came from the same welfare fund, didn't they?
RE: I mean is any of this surprising?  
TDMaker85 : 10/1/2022 8:20 pm : link
In comment 15840112 Returning Video Tapes said:
Quote:
Favre was a known dipshit since he got into the league. Then he rehabbed his image by quitting drinking or whatever. But then the stories start leaking out of GB that he’s still a dipshit and it wasn’t just the partying. Then the dick pick scandal.

Why so many grown men idolize this ass clown I’ll have no idea, by all accounts he’s been an inlikeable asshole everywhere he went that thought he was above it all. No surprise he thought his daughters volleyball court was more important than welfare and medical research. What an asshole.


This. I never got the fascination with Favre. Sloppy qb and always seemed like a douche.
RE: I mean is any of this surprising?  
Vanzetti : 10/1/2022 11:04 pm : link
In comment 15840112 Returning Video Tapes said:
Quote:
Favre was a known dipshit since he got into the league. Then he rehabbed his image by quitting drinking or whatever. But then the stories start leaking out of GB that he’s still a dipshit and it wasn’t just the partying. Then the dick pick scandal.

Why so many grown men idolize this ass clown I’ll have no idea, by all accounts he’s been an inlikeable asshole everywhere he went that thought he was above it all. No surprise he thought his daughters volleyball court was more important than welfare and medical research. What an asshole.


I don't like Favre but his games played streak was an incredible accomplishment, considering the sport and position he plays.

You can't doubt his toughness.
mfj  
Vanzetti : 10/1/2022 11:04 pm : link
Thanks for the summary. Really helpful
You started a new thread to mostly repeat yourself?  
Big Blue Blogger : 10/1/2022 11:44 pm : link
We get it - you think it’s no big deal and Favre will be fine. Maybe you’re right.

The details in the civil suit are horrible, with regard to Prevacus/Odyssey, Southern Miss, and everything the New family’s “charity” touched. Granted, we’ve only seen the state’s side of the story, but good lord it’s disgusting.

On the criminal side, Nancy New and her son (who, like Favre, are not government officials) have already entered guilty pleas in state and federal court, and are cooperating to shorten their sentences to a few years in federal prison rather than decades in Mississippi’s gulag. They have a strong incentive to spill everything about everyone. If Favre skates, he will have dodged a nuclear-tipped missile.

If people don’t care about this story, that’s fine. If you do care, read the excellent, thorough coverage in Mississippi Today and draw your own conclusions.
RE: You started a new thread to mostly repeat yourself?  
AG5686 : 10/2/2022 4:42 am : link
In comment 15840373 Big Blue Blogger said:
Quote:
We get it - you think it’s no big deal and Favre will be fine. Maybe you’re right.

The details in the civil suit are horrible, with regard to Prevacus/Odyssey, Southern Miss, and everything the New family’s “charity” touched. Granted, we’ve only seen the state’s side of the story, but good lord it’s disgusting.

On the criminal side, Nancy New and her son (who, like Favre, are not government officials) have already entered guilty pleas in state and federal court, and are cooperating to shorten their sentences to a few years in federal prison rather than decades in Mississippi’s gulag. They have a strong incentive to spill everything about everyone. If Favre skates, he will have dodged a nuclear-tipped missile.

If people don’t care about this story, that’s fine. If you do care, read the excellent, thorough coverage in Mississippi Today and draw your own conclusions.

What's wrong with that??
RE: You started a new thread to mostly repeat yourself?  
mfjmfj : 10/2/2022 6:36 am : link
In comment 15840373 Big Blue Blogger said:
Quote:
We get it - you think it’s no big deal and Favre will be fine. Maybe you’re right.

The details in the civil suit are horrible, with regard to Prevacus/Odyssey, Southern Miss, and everything the New family’s “charity” touched. Granted, we’ve only seen the state’s side of the story, but good lord it’s disgusting.

On the criminal side, Nancy New and her son (who, like Favre, are not government officials) have already entered guilty pleas in state and federal court, and are cooperating to shorten their sentences to a few years in federal prison rather than decades in Mississippi’s gulag. They have a strong incentive to spill everything about everyone. If Favre skates, he will have dodged a nuclear-tipped missile.

If people don’t care about this story, that’s fine. If you do care, read the excellent, thorough coverage in Mississippi Today and draw your own conclusions.


I read thru the summary, but it took a couple of hours to understand it all. Thought it might be helpful to summarize for people who care a little but are not stupid enough to spend 2 hours of their life reading this crap.

I agree looks horrible, but it was still not clear to me if the obvious bad actors (John Davis, Nancy New, etc.) were actually enriching themselves. I assume so, but it is not clear.

As to Favre, I never said no big deal. I said based on what we know so far I don't see legal jeopardy.
mfj  
Lines of Scrimmage : 10/2/2022 7:21 am : link
Very nice effort putting this together. Thanks.

Seems this will play out for a very long time. Those in the wrong should be prosecuted regardless of status or affiliation. Pretty simple.

Davis’s recent federal guilty plea includes a conspiracy charge.  
Big Blue Blogger : 10/2/2022 8:01 am : link
Sentencing is scheduled for February. His cooperation will likely strengthen the case against his co-conspirators. It’s possible that Favre was sufficiently distant from the scheme to avoid criminal liability. The bad news for him - and others involved at a similar distance - is that no-show contracts (like his speaking deal) and disbursements for prohibited purposes (like the volleyball arena) are at the center of the charges against Davis.

By the way, Davis didn’t just rip off TANF. He also ripped off the TEFAP, USDA’s emergency food assistance program. Unlike TANF, TEFAP is quite explicit about where the aid is supposed to go: operators of food banks, pantries and soup kitchens serving eligible poor people.
Another problem for Favre…  
Big Blue Blogger : 10/2/2022 9:07 am : link
… is that he appears to have violated the “Stringer Bell Rule” by memorializing, in writing, his involvement in “a criminal f*cking conspiracy.” His attorneys will try to contextualize his communications in a more favorable light. We’ll see how successful those efforts are.

It also bears emphasis that this story would be newsworthy without Brett Favre - maybe not on the national level, and obviously not on a football fan site, but it’s a big scandal and the confessed crimes are serious. If this had happened in California, we’d be hearing it 24/7, with or without an NFL connection.
So where do the texts fit in?  
BUgiantfan : 10/2/2022 9:09 am : link
Favre clearly knew the money was coming from an inappropriate fund and he didn't want anyone to know about that.

He clearly was OK with aiding the illegal activity.
Can we disband the thread police?  
WillieYoung : 10/2/2022 9:34 am : link
Who cares if the OP started a new thread to post a coherent summary of the current state of the events for those of us who haven't spent the time reviewing the facts?
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