Another domino fell in the DHS scandal today when Brett Favre's business partner, Jacob Vanlandingham, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in U.S. District Court today.
A bioscientist, Vanlandingham owned Prevacus, a company that claimed it invented a drug to treat concussions.
DHS funneled $1.9 million of TANF funds to Prevacus through Nancy New's companies in 2019. DHS awarded $200,000 more than Prevacus requested. A substantial amount of the funds wound up in Dr. Vanlandingham's pocket. The bill of information stated he stole the funds for his personal use.
Favre was an investor in Prevarcus. Anna Wolfe reported on April 5, 2022:
Text messages obtained by Mississippi Today reveal NFL quarterback Brett Favre briefed Gov. Bryant about the flow of state grant funds to his experimental drug project, a deal that was shielded from public view. Bryant was all set to accept stock in the company hours after he left office — then arrests were made. Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant used the authority of his office, the weight of his political influence and the power of his connections to help his friend and retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre boost a fledgling pharmaceutical venture. Then he tried to cash in on the project when he left office, text messages show. Favre believed he could make millions as an early investor in a drug company. He just needed a little more political and financial capital to push the enterprise into the end zone. “It’s 3rd and long and we need you to make it happen!!” Favre wrote to the governor in late December 2018, according to text messages recently obtained by Mississippi Today. “I will open a hole,” Bryant responded, piggybacking on the football metaphor. Less than a week later, Favre would meet with Bryant’s welfare officials to strike a deal for a $1.7 million investment in the biomedical startup Prevacus, which promised it had found a treatment for concussions. Prosecutors now say that money was stolen from a federal program intended to serve the state’s poorest residents – a pot of money that had virtually no oversight. Bryant said he did not introduce Prevacus to Nancy New, the nonprofit director who made the payments and now faces bribery, racketeering and embezzlement charges. But newly uncovered text messages show that, at the very least, Favre told Bryant that New had started funneling public funding to the drug company shortly after he began advocating on its behalf. As governor, Bryant assisted Prevacus, the company at the center of Mississippi’s ongoing welfare embezzlement scandal, in finding investors and gaining favor with federal regulators. Then, two days after he left office, Bryant agreed by text to accept stock in the company. “Now that you’re unemployed I’d like to give you a company package for all your help,” Prevacus founder Jake Vanlandingham wrote in a Jan. 16, 2020, text. “…We want and need you on our team!!!” “Sounds good,” responded the former governor, who was getting ready to take over a private sector lobbying firm. “Where would be the best place to meet. I am now going to get on it hard…” In a three-hour-long interview with Mississippi Today on April 2, Bryant said that despite the timeline revealed through the candid messages – which he acknowledged “doesn’t look good” – he never intended on accepting stock in Prevacus and did not read his texts carefully enough to pick up on the fact that the company had received public funding in the first place....
State Auditor Shad White issued the following statement:
I applaud federal prosecutors for their continued work on this case,” said State Auditor Shad White. “I’m grateful for my team at the Auditor’s office and the FBI for digging up the facts related to this case. We will continue to assist federal prosecutors as needed going forward.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves. Dr. Vanlandingham faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
29 comments:
But yet Bad Shad will not say one negative word about Phil Bryant. But he can surely get after a water clerk !
So when will Brett fall from grace. I'm sure he already has but when will he face the piper.
What does it mean when the charges are filed and the defendant pleads guilty on the same day?
Is this what is called a deal?
What could the guilty party bring to the table to bargain with, or does the defendant just take what they are offering?
(Asking for a certain former deputy sheriff and anyone else that's interested!)
Lifelong Favre fan here...if he did in fact have his hands in the till, he needs to do his time and let everyone move on from this.
There was no excuse to be asking for money from taxpayer funds. And where did it all go? The dude literally looks like he rolled out from underneath a trailer in Stone County...no offense to any Stone Countians.
The charging document outlines JVL's literal embezzlement of funds—he used government money to pay off personal debts. That's a very different scenario than what Wolfe addresses in the article you quoted.
It's also important to consider what the document does not charge. It does not charge that Prevacus's $1.7-1.9 million receipt was criminal. On the contrary, the charging document is based on the fact that JVL didn't use the funds for concussion research, etc.
I suppose time will tell, but not even Anna Wolfe has accused Favre of literally stealing money. This may be the end of it.
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted by the feds for: "claiming that in wiretapped recordings Blagojevich discussed his desire to get something in exchange for an appointment".
He was never shown to have received any money.
Trailer in Hancock 2:55
No Pigott, No Pulitzer.
Bleed 'em dry Phil.
Per his own text messages, Phil appears to have been actively directing money to Prevacus while at the same time setting up a meeting to obtain ownership in the company. His own texts. It looks like this Vanlandingham guy just sealed Phil’s fate.
Those text messages Shad sat on for two years have come back to burn Phil. Shad covered the ole “Whistleblower” for as long as he could.
So, by this logic, if I am an “investor” in Facebook, I can get sued if Zuck pockets some of my fed dollars? Asking for Favre.
Just Google Favre and concussions. No way he ever gets convicted of concocting a fraud, whether he did it or not. Too much wishful thinking by his haters. If anything, this "business partner" took advantage of Favre.
Ruh Roh!!!! The dominoes may start falling. We got us a rat in the house now.
why is Nancy New and her son no in jail?
@4:10- that’s simply not true. There are no messages showing Bryant directing money, nor are there messages showing Bryant agreeing to accept stock.
I've been sitting on the fence. Not about Bryant's involvement but about whether Bryant gets indicted. This clears it up.
“If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck!” It’s blatantly obvious they all were involved in stealing or conspiracy to steal money from the state funds. That’s the beginning and end of it!
@ 8:28 - I can't personally provide it, but on this very blog there was indeed a record shown of Bryant telling Favre (or someone) to hold off until the day after his term ends to provide the share of the company. As I recall, the conversation went something like: We'd like to provide you with a package making you a part owner. Well, we'll need to hold off on that until the day after I leave office.
What did happen to he News? I missed it. Thanks
Brett is who I turn to when researching the mechanism of action and efficacy of a new pharmaceutical prior to investing
Will this investigation “Ever end”. This has more publicity than the Lindbergh kidnapping.
I saw the MT story this morning and noticed a certain former governor's name was not mentioned. I wonder why not?
3 days out of office and bryant is already involved in behavior that, by his own admission, ''doesn't look good''.
I feel like this could be the end of the beginning
If Brett and Bryant should truly be punished, and I'm fifty fifity, then do it and let the chips fall where they may. Both men have ruined their reputations and I don't expect either will ever be in the good graces of the public again even if they pay back every cent.
But at some point it's poop or get off the pot.
remember lance armstrong?
the bryant /farve team is using the same tactics armstrong used. if someone goes public on you , you sue em for liberal and slander just like armstrong did. then eventually the truth comes out............................................................ the farve /bryant team better hope they only end up disgraced like armstrong. and not in a federal prison cell.
to 12:18.......you dont know much about the federal system do you?......................................no one tells the feds when to poop. but when they
do, you will be able to smell it no matter where you may be.
Do us a favor, Kingfish, and see if you can dig up the comment then Governor Bryant made to Favre indicating 'they' needed to wait until he was officially out of office to 'give him' a piece of the company. I clearly remember reading it here, but I've not been able to locate it.
KF won’t let us post Phil’s quotes. Wonder why?
Anyway, let’s try. Phil’s comment (in the form of his own texts) was made to the Florida doctor, who offered Phil part of the company. Again, look at the texts. Phil said he could not accept until January, 16, the day after he left office (crazy a sitting Gov thought this was ok). After the offer, Phil asked the doc for “a good place to meet?”
It’s all in the text messages to/from Phil, which he clearly wants ignored.
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