This is a character guide for Mississippi Today’s series “The Backchannel.” Below are the main players and other people swept up in the sprawling welfare scandal and surrounding events. Most of these individuals have not been charged with a crime or accused of wrongdoing.
PART 1: Phil Bryant had his sights on a payout as welfare funds flowed to Brett Favre
The criminal defendants
John Davis, director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services from 2016 to 2019
Nancy New, prominent private school operator, founder and director of the nonprofit Mississippi Community Education Center
Zach New, Nancy New’s son and nonprofit assistant director
Brett DiBiase, retired WWE wrestler, copier salesman, peer addiction educator
Ann McGrew, accountant for Nancy New’s nonprofit and for-profit private school company
Gregory “Latimer” Smith, former MDHS procurement officer
The political circle
Phil Bryant, Mississippi’s governor from 2012-2020
Deborah Bryant, Bryant’s wife and First Lady
Joe Canizaro, Bryant’s friend and wealthy developer from New Orleans
Laurie Smith, former educator and Bryant’s policy adviser, executive director of both the State Early Childhood Advisory Council and the State Workforce Investment Board
Mimmo Parisi, founder and director of a data science center at Mississippi State University and chair of the State Early Childhood Advisory Council
Andrea Mayfield, director of the Mississippi Community College Board and chair of the State Workforce Investment Board
Tate Reeves, Mississippi’s current governor, served as lieutenant governor in the Legislature when Bryant was governor
Rick Santorum, former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania
The athletes
Brett Favre, retired Hall of Fame NFL quarterback from Kiln, Mississippi
Ted DiBiase, retired WWE wrestler and announcer known as “The Million Dollar Man” and evangelical preacher
Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr., Ted’s son and retired WWE wrestler and motivational speaker
Paul Lacoste, retired linebacker and fitness trainer from Jackson, Mississippi
The scientist
Jake Vanlandingham, Florida-based neuroscientist and owner of Prevacus
The old MDHS team
Jacob Black, former deputy director of MDHS under John Davis, interim MDHS director from January 2020 to March 2020, current staff officer at the Mississippi Division of Medicaid
Lynne Myers, former director of communications for MDHS and former Gov. Bryant staffer
Zola Haralson, Davis’ secretary at MDHS
The Family at Families First
Noah McRae, great-nephew of Gov. Phil Bryant, grandson of Deborah Bryant’s sister, former student of Nancy New’s private school
Austin Smith, nephew of John Davis, IT coordinator for Families First, project manager for Mississippi Community College Board preschool grant
Kevin Myers, husband of Lynne Myers and former “community liaison” for Families First for Mississippi, former deputy director for the Department of Public Safety
The new MDHS team
Christopher Freeze, Phil Bryant-appointed director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services from August 2019 to January 2020
Bob Anderson, Gov. Tate Reeves-appointed current director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services since March of 2020 and former prosecutor for the Mississippi Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division
The auditors
Shad White, Mississippi State Auditor, originally appointed by Phil Bryant in 2018 and first elected in 2019
Stephanie Palmertree, director of financial and compliance division at state auditor’s office
The prosecutors
Jody Owens, Hinds County District Attorney elected in 2019
Jamie McBride, Hinds County Assistant District Attorney
Brad Pigott, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi hired by MDHS in 2021 to bring civil charges against those who misspent welfare money
The defense attorneys
Scott Gilbert, attorney for Teddy DiBiase Jr. and former attorney for Noah McRae
Merrida Coxwell and Chuck Mullins, attorneys for John Davis
Cynthia Speetjens, attorney for Nancy New
Tom Fortner, attorney for Zach New and Ted DiBiase and his wife Melanie
The celebrity
Jennifer Garner, Hollywood actress and ambassador for Save the Children
The organizations
Mississippi Department of Human Services, the state’s welfare agency, which administers around $1 billion in federal public assistance dollars each year
Prevacus, a Florida-based biomedical start-up
Families First for Mississippi, the name of a statewide family-stabilization program funded by tens of millions of welfare dollars from the Mississippi Department of Human Services and operated by the nonprofits Mississippi Community Education Center and Family Resource Center of North Mississippi
Mississippi Community Education Center, a nonprofit founded and run by Nancy New in Jackson
New Summit School, one of Nancy New’s private schools, located in Jackson
Family Resource Center of North Mississippi, a nonprofit run by Christi Webb in Tupelo
Cirlot Agency, the branding agency owned by Rick Looser and Liz Cirlot Looser that conducted marketing and design for Families First for Mississippi
Supertalk, the conservative talk radio network, run by Kim Dillon, that broadcasted Families First for Mississippi events and interviews
T.K. Martin Center, a Mississippi State University clinic for kids with learning disabilities that Phil Bryant asked John Davis to help
Willowood Developmental Center, a Jackson center for kids and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that Phil Bryant asked John Davis to help
Save the Children, an international humanitarian nonprofit Phil Bryant helped to receive welfare funding
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