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Don Tollefson Goes to Jail

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by LanceyHoward, Oct 18, 2015.

  1. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    Tollefson was a local sports anchor in Philly for over 25 years at first the ABC and then the Fox afflilate. He got fired at the Fox affiliate a few years ago. He was convicted of selling trips to sporting events in the name of various charities without their knowledge, pocketing the money and stiffing the buyers.

    Tollefson gets 2-4 years for fraud, theft

    Tollefson had long claimed to be heavily involved with children's charities. He said he left his anchor job at the ABC affiliate, which dominated the local news ratings, to devote his life to these charities. I read an interview where he said he had four charities that sponsored kids going to ballgames and summer camps, giving scholarships and holding job fairs for the unemployed.

    My question is this. Does anyone know if these charities ever existed? They were never registered in Pennsylvania. Have people come forth who attended camps or received scholarships? Or did Tollefson run these scams while appearing nightly on major market television for decades?
     
  2. Drip

    Drip Active Member

    That's information that you can google and find out for yourself.
     
  3. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    Daily enemas until he was 16, seriously?
     
  4. LanceyHoward

    LanceyHoward Well-Known Member

    I tried to google it. Tollefson was only convicted of crimes that occurred recently. When I researched further back I only found a couple interviews where he described his charities. The articles I read did not say one way or another if he was ever legitimate. I would guess not because none of the charities were registered but I was curious.
     
  5. Doc Holliday

    Doc Holliday Well-Known Member

    Who does this to their child and then makes them sleep in the same bed at 16????
     
  6. cjericho

    cjericho Well-Known Member

    If it really happened I feel sorry for the guy and his mom should've been Greg Hardy's girlfriend. But I guess I'm kind of a cynic since I'm not sure I can believe everything this guy says.
     
  7. Doc Holliday

    Doc Holliday Well-Known Member

    Yeah. Kinda hard to believe. Sounds like a "poor me, I was abused" story to get a judge/jury to show some sympathy for him.
     
  8. Vombatus

    Vombatus Well-Known Member

    Glad he wasn't in the hotel business.
     
  9. Try looking them up on Guidestar.
    990s for registered non-profits are there.
     
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