Marcus Dupree, a Mississippi football legend, denies that he defrauded the state's welfare system and is 'shocked' to be 'lumped in' with Brett Favre in the fraud investigation's findings. More from JohnBarrESPN:
But his name didn't appear with any frequency in the national media until the results of a state audit in Mississippi became public and a lawsuit was then filed by the state in May against Dupree, his foundation and dozens of other defendants.
An investigation by Mississippi Today was the first to reveal that the nonprofits that paid Dupree and others either misspent or stole at least $77 million in welfare funds in what's considered the worst public corruption case in state history. White said his office found"limited evidence" Dupree or anyone else ever delivered those sorts of services to the needy."I mentored the kids through the horses by having responsibility, cleaning the stalls, and, if you got good with that, I'd let you ride a horse. Most of the parents just wanted them to be around me. I'm passionate about what we did, and for the state to be talking about 'Oh, none of that happened,' yes it did," Dupree said.
On April 13, 2018, Dupree's foundation purchased the horse farm and residence in Flora where Dupree lives for $855,000. The five-bedroom, 4,100-square-foot home is valued at just over $1 million, according to the real estate website Zillow.