Former WWE wrestler faces decades in prison for alleged mishandling of Mississippi welfare fundsUpdated: Mar. 19, 2026, 6:59 p.m.|Published: Mar. 18, 2026, 3:28 p.m.Ted DiBiase Jr.WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase Jr. attends the WWE and The Creative Coalition’s SummerSlam Kickoff Party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on August 16, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California.
Davis and DiBiase’s brother, fellow former wrestler Brett DiBiase, have already pleaded guilty to state and federal charges stemming from the case.If convicted, DiBiase faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on each count of wire fraud, 10 years on each count of theft and money laundering and five years for conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.The welfare scandal has been tied to numerous high-profile figures, including WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre.Ted DiBiase Sr., Ted DiBiase Jr. and Favre, along with former college football star Marcus Dupree and NFL linebacker Paul Lacoste, were among 38 people sued by the State of Mississippi in an attempt to recoup some $24 million in misappropriated welfare funds.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Jackson, Miss. alleges DiBiase’s companies obtained federal welfare funds from the Emergency Food Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families programs which were “misappropriated for their own use and benefit.”The indictment says co-conspirator John Davis, former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, would direct his department to subgrant the funds to two nonprofit organizations — Family Resource Center of North Mississippi and Mississippi Community Education Center — which were operated by co-conspirators Christi Webb and Nancy New, respectively.Davis would then direct Webb and New to award “sham contracts” to individuals and entities supposedly for social services, including at least five such contracts issued in 2017 and 2018 to Priceless Ventures LLC and Familiae Orientem LLC, two companies operated by DiBiase.The indictment says those companies never provided the social services for which the contracts called nor did they intend to do so.
The federal indictment accuses companies run by DiBiase of misspending millions in welfare funds through “sham contracts” awarded by co-conspirators in charge of the welfare program.