Ted DiBiase Jr’s Fraud Trial Delayed

Ted DiBiase Jr’s trial date on charges of fraud has been delayed. PWINsider reports that several motions were filed several weeks back in the case, and while they remain sealed the judge in the case has ruled that the trial has been continued along with all current related deadlines and hearings.

There is no word on the reasons for the delay in the trial, which was set to start on Januay 7th with a pre-trial hearing set to take place on December 13th.

As reported, DiBiase Jr. was charged in April with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, and four counts of money laundering in the Mississippi Welfare fraud scandal. He has pled not guilty and the trial was originally scheduled to start on June 20th before the government filed a motion asking for a delay due to the massive amount of discovery that both sides needed to review.

The charges are related to the scandal regarding misappropriation of funds from the Mississippi Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs. If convicted, DiBiase Jr. faces maximum penalty of five years for the charge of conspiracy, a maximum of 20 years for each wire fraud count, and a penalty of 10 years for each count of theft and each count of money laundering.