Don Tollefson Fraud Trial Heading to Jury in Bucks County, Pa.
By Brad Segall
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- The jury was expected to begin deliberations later today in the Bucks County theft-and-fraud trial for former television sportscaster Don Tollefson.
Jurors heard closing arguments from the prosecution and defense earlier today. Tollefson, 62, who is acting as his own attorney during the trial, told the jury there is no doubt he owes people money, adding he won't give up on doing what he needs to do to make them whole.
But the former Channel 6 sports anchor says he never had any criminal intent to defraud anyone and planned to deliver on the sports trips he sold to people at charitable events throughout the Philadelphia region. He told the jury he caused what happened because of sloppy bookkeeping and bad business decisions until the money simply ran out.
But prosecutor Matt Weintraub says Tollefson ran an elaborate ponzi scheme in which he "robbed Peter to pay Paul," and then robbed Peter and Paul to pay himself.
Weintraub says Tollefson was motivated by greed, using the money for personal expenses, and said the defendant needs to be held accountable for perpetrating a fraud on the unsuspecting victims who trusted him because of his name and reputation.
As CBS 3's Justin Finch reports, the jury deliberated late into the night after getting the case late Tuesday.
Deliberations will resume on Wednesday.