The jury’s not-guilty verdict marked the first and only trial for Ted DiBiase Jr. tied to the broader Mississippi welfare scandal, which surfaced publicly in 2020 and has since swept in other defendants through plea deals and related litigation, according to court reporting. DiBiase—who performed as a WWE wrestler in the 2000s and 2010s—had been accused by federal prosecutors of misusing federal safety-net money, including money prosecutors said was intended to help some of the nation’s poorest families.
In the federal case in Mississippi, DiBiase faced 13 charges involving conspiracy, wire fraud, theft and money laundering. His lawyer, Sidney Lampton, said after the verdict that it was “a weight off his chest,” adding, “The jury got it right,” according to the Associated Press report. The prosecutor leading the federal case, U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger, said he “respect[s] the jury’s verdict” while adding, “While I remain confident in our case,” and commended the prosecution team’s work.
Federal prosecutors alleged in the indictment that DiBiase had fraudulently obtained millions of federal welfare dollars and used the money for personal gain. The indictment, as described in the Associated Press account, included allegations tied to purchases such as a vehicle, a boat and a home down payment. DiBiase was also described in the report as having been the only person charged in the scandal to reach trial.
The DiBiase case grew out of federal charges filed after Mississippi’s welfare system came under scrutiny in 2020, when John Davis, then the former director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services, was indicted on fraud and embezzlement charges along with several others. Prosecutors alleged that Davis directed federal dollars to two nonprofits, which then awarded so-called “sham contracts” for social services that were never provided.
Within that framework, prosecutors also alleged that DiBiase’s companies received more than $2 million in contracts for services including “leadership outreach,” an emergency food assistance assessment and a program for inner-city youth. Much of the money prosecutors described as involved in the scheme came from two federal safety-net programs—Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and the Emergency Food Assistance Program—and was intended, according to the report, to help people in need.
The Mississippi welfare scandal also produced a wider chain of criminal cases and associated civil claims. The Associated Press report said Davis, multiple nonprofit executives and DiBiase’s brother, former pro wrestler Brett DiBiase, have pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme. Separately, the report said the scandal ensnared other high-profile figures, including former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant and retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre; it said both Bryant and Favre have denied wrongdoing and neither has been criminally charged.
In addition, the Associated Press report said the Mississippi state auditor found that more than $77 million in TANF funds were misspent. The report also said the scandal’s defendants included the DiBiase brothers and their father, Ted DiBiase Sr., and that the Mississippi Department of Human Services filed a lawsuit seeking to recover more than $20 million in misspent money, with those family members named among dozens of defendants.
The verdict on DiBiase’s charges does not, by itself, resolve the status of the broader case’s other components, including the guilty pleas already entered by other defendants and the civil lawsuit seeking repayment. For DiBiase, though, the trial’s outcome brings an end to the federal charges that prosecutors said were linked to the welfare payments and contracts at the heart of Mississippi’s corruption investigation.