After a hiccup in a long-anticipated trial about the misuse of Mississippi’s federal welfare funds, the judge has continued the trial until Feb. 23.
The trial for Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr., the only defendant yet to face a jury in the seemingly never-ending Mississippi welfare fraud case, began Jan. 6. During the second week, on Jan. 14, the lead defense lawyer in the case fell ill, causing U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves to pause the proceedings.
Later, the defense team argued for a mistrial, saying it was unclear when lead attorney Scott Gilbert would be able to return to the courtroom. Reeves ruled Wednesday a mistrial was not necessary, that DiBiase’s other lawyers could handle the case moving forward, and that the existing jury could remain intact.
DiBiase is facing 13 criminal counts including conspiracy, wire fraud, theft of federal funds and money laundering within a broader alleged scheme to raid the state’s federal public assistance agency. He received roughly $3 million in federal funds from the agency through what prosecutors call “sham contracts,” while DiBiase argues he was a lawful contractor.
At the time Reeves paused the trial, the defense was still in the process of cross-examining former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis, who was instrumental in pushing funds to DiBiase and his family members. Auditors questioned roughly $100 million in welfare spending under Davis’ leadership.
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In addition to star witness Davis, the jury has heard from a former inspector general with the welfare agency, David Barton, and two officials from the federal agencies that oversee the safety net programs DiBiase allegedly raided – the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.
The prosecution first called Davis on Jan. 9 in its effort to build a case – using many long, sentimental text messages between Davis and DiBiase – alleging the wrestler ingratiated himself with the then-welfare director in an attempt to strike it rich off the federal public assistance program.
The defense began questioning Davis on Jan. 12, displaying documents and social media posts to assert that DiBiase intended to carry out the services he was contracted to provide. Davis’ testimony supported many of Gilbert’s points, such as the fact that the men did not try to conceal what they were doing.
Another lawyer representing DiBiase, Eric Herschmann, alleged during his argument for a mistrial Tuesday that Gilbert’s cross-examination of Davis was so effective, the prosecution was considering the possibility of exposing his inconsistencies on the stand during its redirect.
Herschmann argued that bringing a new lawyer up to speed on the case, which involves 6 million pages of records, would be impossible to do in a short period of time. He also claimed the parties have identified 100 witnesses who could be called during the trial.
