The first defendant to be sentenced in Mississippi’s massive welfare misspending scandal headed to prison Monday on a one-year sentence, though she might not remain in custody the whole time.
Anne McGrew, who was the accountant for a nonprofit organization at the center of the scheme, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in 2021 for her role in moving federal money and altering ledgers to cover up the illegal transfers. Officials used the organization, Mississippi Community Education Center, to steer tens of millions of dollars from a federal anti-poverty program to their friends and family and to the pet projects of famous athletes.
McGrew’s conspiracy charge came with a maximum sentence of five years. Hinds County Circuit Judge Adrienne Wooten on Monday sentenced the 69-year-old McGrew to serve one year in prison – which could amount to three months under state guidelines that allow nonviolent offenders the possibility of parole after serving 25% of their sentence – followed by four years of house arrest.
“I can’t believe I’m going to jail,” a tearful McGrew said after being placed in handcuffs to await her transfer. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Wooten grilled both the prosecution and defense during the sentencing hearing about why McGrew continued to cover for her boss, Mississippi Community Education Center founder Nancy New, knowing that money was being misused.
The recently retired assistant district attorney who led the case, Jamie McBride, explained that New was using some of the federal grant money to keep operating her now-defunct private school, which taught children with learning challenges. McGrew said she was trying to do her job and described New as controlling.
“I thought we were doing some good,” McGrew said. “We served the community. We helped kids, and I thought that was worthwhile.”
The accountant was also instrumental in helping the Hinds County District Attorney’s Office to build its case against higher level members of the scheme, such as New and former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis.
“She was the linchpin in bringing down this hundred million dollar fraud case,” Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens said. “Without her early cooperation, we would have never understood the process, the scheme and how the money was moved. And her ability to validate that strengthened our case against all remaining defendants.”
Owens pointed out that McGrew did not monetarily benefit from the scheme as others did. Since her guilty plea, McGrew has been at home with an ankle monitor.
“She missed out on a lot,” McGrew’s brother-in-law Andy Metts said during the sentencing hearing.
Wooten explained that McGrew’s years-long supervision with ankle monitoring did not constitute house arrest, but was a condition of her bond, and she would therefore not receive any time-served credit for that monitoring.
Metts appeared as one of three character witnesses for McGrew, saying she was one of the most unassuming, rule-following people he’d ever known. He said he couldn’t wrap his head around how McGrew became involved in the scandal.
Right before Wooten handed down the sentence, Metts rose again to say that McGrew should have never held the role of CPA, that as a person who follows orders, “She didn’t have the guts for it.”
“You just don’t know the personalities,” Metts pleaded with the judge.
Wooten responded: “I don’t sentence a personality.”
Wooten described this case as unlike a typical embezzlement case, where there is a victim that the justice system is tasked with making whole, such as through restitution payments. The victims in this case, Wooten acknowledged, were the thousands of Mississippians who were denied access to welfare benefits while the nonprofit that employed McGrew frittered the money away.
“These monies should have been making it into the households of the people in our community who have the least,” Wooten said.
The sentencing of McGrew, along with six others who pleaded guilty, had been delayed until the conclusion of the federal investigation, which included the case against Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. DiBiase, a former pro wrestler, received over $3 million in welfare funds under contracts he argued were legal and under which he performed. A jury found DiBiase not guilty in March in a trial that lasted several weeks.
Owens, whose office first indicted the original six defendants in the scandal in 2020, said his office has been reaching out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office about when it plans to schedule sentencing for the remaining six defendants. Owens said his colleagues have received no response.
McGrew was the only defendant awaiting sentencing who was charged by the state but not the federal government. The rest were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and agreed to deals that would allow them to serve their sentences in federal prison.
The remaining defendants awaiting sentencing include:
Davis pleaded guilty to state and federal fraud charges in September 2022.
New pleaded guilty to state bribery and fraud charges in April 2022.
Zach New, son of Nancy New, pleaded guilty to state bribery and fraud charges in April 2022.
Jake Vanlandingham pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge in July 2024.
Brett DiBiase, brother of Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr., pleaded guilty to a state fraud charge in December 2020 and a federal conspiracy charge in March 2023.
Christi Webb pleaded guilty to a federal theft charge in March 2023.
