A Hinds County judge placed a gag order against all those involved in a case involving the Mississippi welfare embezzlement scam. A grand jury indicted six individuals in February in connection to a “sprawling plot” that allegedly involved stealing and conspiring in the misappropriation of millions of federal funds meant for poor Mississippians. To learn more about this scandal, the judge’s order requires that the public wait until criminal trials are held. This could take many months, if not longer. The six defendants have pleaded guilty and will be tried in 2021. They are expected to face the main cases, which were scheduled for February and April. However, additional delays may occur. None of the six defendants had previously spoken publicly about this investigation until now. Nancy New, a key defendant in this case, declined to answer numerous questions but refuted the story being told by investigators. Officials claim that Nancy New and Zach New stole $4.15million in federal welfare money from the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The funds were channeled through a nonprofit called the Mississippi Community Education Center, which was founded by Nancy New. Prosecutors claim that the News funneled half of that money to an affiliated Florida biomedical startup. Nancy New replied “absolutely” when she was asked if she had been instructed to pay the concussion drug founder. Mississippi Today and Clarion Ledger published Nancy New’s comments in a Nov. 14 article. Faye Peterson was the Hinds County circuit judge who oversees Nancy New’s case. She apparently read the article. Peterson issued an injunction referencing the article two days after publication of the story. To ensure Nancy New gets an impartial trial, it prohibited representatives and witnesses from speaking to media. These types of orders are common in high-profile cases. Jim Waide, a long-standing defense attorney in north Mississippi, stated that there are two things that must be balanced: the public’s right of knowing and the right for a fair trial. Three months after the arrests, Shad White, the State Auditor, released his annual state audit in May. The auditor’s audit, which spanned 104 pages, detailed $94million in questionable spending at the Mississippi Department of Human Services, under John Davis, former director, and the agency’s subgrantees including Nancy New’s Mississippi Community Education Center. Former Gov. In 2016, Phil Bryant appointed Davis as the welfare director. He oversees an $86.5 million annual welfare block grant called Temporary Aid for Needy Families. This grant has extremely lax spending requirements. After releasing his report, White stated that Davis saw it as an opportunity for a kingdom. “If there were a way to misuse money, it seems DHS leadership and their grantees thought it up and tried it,” White said. Waide agrees with those who defend the scheme’s perpetrators. He believes that officials have tried Davis in the media since February’s arrests. Waide stated that he believes the statements made by the state auditor were highly prejudicial. “He has already stated in the media that Davis is guilty.”_x000D