Current:Home > StocksBiotech company’s CEO pleads guilty in Mississippi welfare fraud case -Blueprint Money Mastery
Biotech company’s CEO pleads guilty in Mississippi welfare fraud case
TradeEdge View
Date:2025-04-09 12:38:54
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The chief executive officer of a biotech company with ties to the largest public corruption case in Mississippi history pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of wire fraud for improperly using welfare funds intended to develop a concussion drug.
Jacob VanLandingham entered the plea at a hearing in Jackson before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves, according to court records. A sentencing date was not immediately set. Possible penalties include up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
A lawsuit filed by the state Department of Human Services alleges that $2.1 million of welfare money paid for stock in VanLandingham’s Florida-based companies, Prevacus and PreSolMD, for Nancy New and her son, Zachary New, who ran nonprofit groups that received welfare money from Human Services.
Prosecutors said the Mississippi Community Education Center, which was run by the News, provided about $1.9 million, including federal money from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, to Prevacus. The money was purportedly for the development of a pharmaceutical concussion treatment. But, prosecutors said in a bill of information that VanLandingham misused “a substantial amount of these funds for his personal benefit, including, but not limited to, gambling and paying off personal debts,” according to the bill.
Former NFL star Brett Favre is named in the Human Services lawsuit as the “largest individual outside investor” of Prevacus. Favre, who has not been charged with wrongdoing, has said he put $1 million of his own money into VanLandingham’s companies, which were developing a nasal spray to treat concussions and a cream to prevent or limit them.
Former Mississippi Department of Human Services director John Davis and others have pleaded guilty to misspending money from the TANF program.
Nancy New and Zachary New previously pleaded guilty to state charges of misusing welfare money, including on lavish gifts such as first-class airfare for Davis. Nancy New, Zachary New and Davis all agreed to testify against others.
Davis was appointed by former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant to lead Human Services. He pleaded guilty to state and federal felony charges in a conspiracy to misspend tens of millions of dollars from the TANF program.
veryGood! (96)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Best Deals Under $50 at Revolve's End-of-Summer Sale: Get Up to 87% on Top Brands Like Free People & More
- Why is my dog eating grass? 5 possible reasons, plus what owners should do
- Aryna Sabalenka overpowers Emma Navarro to advance to US Open final again
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- 'Great' dad. 'Caring' brother. Families mourn Georgia high school shooting victims.
- Taylor Swift Arrives in Style to Travis Kelce's First NFL Game Since Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl Win
- Noah Centineo reveals when he lost his virginity. There's no right age, experts say.
- New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
- A Christian school appeals its ban on competing after it objected to a transgender player
Ranking
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Massachusetts driver who repeatedly hit an Asian American man gets 18 months in prison
- Magic Johnson buys a stake in the NWSL’s Washington Spirit
- Gov. Ivey asks state veteran affairs commissioner to resign
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Pennsylvania voters can cast a provisional ballot if their mail ballot is rejected, court says
- Kylie Jenner Gives Nod to Her “King Kylie” Era With Blue Hair Transformation
- Michael Keaton Isn't Alone: Gigi Hadid, Tina Fey and Tom Cruise's Real Names Revealed
Recommendation
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Is that cereal box getting smaller? Welcome to the bewildering world of shrinkflation.
Usher premieres Paris concert film at the Apollo with roses, 'Ushbucks' and sensuality
Ryan Seacrest vows to keep 'Wheel of Fortune' spinning as new host with Vanna White
Chuck Scarborough signs off: Hoda Kotb, Al Roker tribute legendary New York anchor
Anna Delvey on 'DWTS' leaves fans, Whoopi Goldberg outraged by the convicted scam artist
Missouri judge says abortion-rights measure summary penned by GOP official is misleading
Selling Sunset's Chrishell Stause Says She Has Receipts on Snake Nicole Young