A Mississippi judge removes 1 of Brett Favre’s lawyers in a civil case over misspent welfare money

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi judge has removed one of the attorneys representing retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a state civil lawsuit that seeks to recover welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest residents in the U.S. but went to projects pushed by wealthy and well-connected people.

Favre is still represented by other lawyers in the case that the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed in 2022 against him and more than three dozen other people, groups and companies.

Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson wrote Thursday in her removal order that one of Favre’s New York-based attorneys, Daniel Koevary, had violated rules for Mississippi civil court procedures by repeatedly demanding hearings “for matters unrelated to and not within the jurisdiction of this Court to resolve.” Peterson also wrote that she deemed the behavior “an attempt to manufacture discord.”

The Associated Press sent email messages to Koevary on Friday and Monday asking for his reaction to Peterson’s decision.

Mississippi Auditor Shad White said in 2020 that Favre, a Pro Football Hall of Fame member who lives in Mississippi, had improperly received $1.1 million in speaking fees from a nonprofit organization that spent welfare money with approval from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The welfare money was to go toward a volleyball arena at the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre agreed to lead fundraising efforts for the facility at his alma mater, where his daughter started playing on the volleyball team in 2017.

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Favre repaid $500,000 to the state in May 2020 and $600,000 in October 2021, White said in a court filing in February that Favre still owes $729,790 because interest caused growth in the original amount he owed.

Favre is not facing any criminal charges. Former Mississippi Department of Human Services director John Davis and others have pleaded guilty to misspending money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

White has said more than $77 million of welfare money was misspent from 2016 to 2019, including $160,000 for drug rehab for a former pro wrestler and thousands of dollars for airfare and hotel stays for Davis, who led the Department of Human Services during those years.