Credit: Warminster Twp. Police
Former Philadelphia sportscaster Don Tollefson will be entering rehab sometime this week.
The 61-year-old Glenside man will enter the Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities program in Malvern for about a month after being freed from prison, according The Norristown Times Herald. The newspaper also reported all hearings will be postponed until the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program is complete.
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According to court documents and various media reports, Tollefson was not accompanied during a court appearance Wednesday by high-profile attorneys Ray McHugh and Michael McGovern, who were there when he was arraigned in Warminster last month.
Bail for Tollesfon was lowered from the original amount of 10 percent of $250,000 to $10,000 recently. This week, Judge James McMaster approved an order releasing Tollefson on his own recognizance.
Tollefson is accused of selling ticket, travel and room packages in the name of charity. The packages ranged from several hundred to a few thousand dollars. In the end, the parties who purchased the ticket packages for Phillies spring-training games, Eagles games, the Super Bowl and Kentucky Derby never receive agreed upon sports trips and tickets they paid for.
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Officials say Tollefson, known to local television viewers as “Tollie,” scammed at least 100 people from around the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas. Police say the former sportscaster “misappropriated” more than $100,000, adding that figure doesn’t include funds charity groups were promised but never received.
According to the authorities, Tollefson fraudulently solicited money for charities and then misappropriated the cash. Some of the charities include the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, the Salvation Army and the Brad Fox Foundation.
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The Bucks County investigation began in September and involved police from around the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas.
Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Investigators have discovered that at least two of Tollefson’s charities, both for disadvantage children, were not registered with the state Bureau of Charitable Organizations. Only charities making less than $25,000 a year do not have to register.
Tollefson is accused of telling people who bought ticket packages that his organizations were tax exempt.
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Tollefson said in court last month that he was on Social Security disability and has been “sober” for 131 days. Sources have said Tollefson entered rehab last year for addiction to prescription drugs.
The former sportscaster, who worked for both 6ABC and Fox 29, is charged with first degree felony dealing in the proceeds of unlawful activity, third degree felony charges of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception and first degree misdemeanor violations of the Pennsylvania Charitable Organizations statute.
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Officials said last month that they believe the fraud is more widespread and more charges could be filed.
Tollefson is next set to stand before District Judge Daniel Finello on May 29 at 9 a.m.
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