Mississippi’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that former NFL star Brett Favre won’t be removed from a civil lawsuit aiming to recover millions of dollars in allegedly misspent welfare cash. Lawyers for the Hall of Fame quarterback, who has not been criminally charged, had argued that “utterly meritless” legal arguments had been made to bring Favre into the civil case, but a panel of three justices denied his appeal to be removed. Prosecutors allege that millions of federal welfare dollars intended for some of the poorest people in Mississippi were wasted on projects backed by wealthy and well-connected people between 2016 and 2019. The money was allegedly partly squandered through $5 million to a volleyball arena at the university Favre attended—and where his daughter plays the sport—and $1.7 million to research for a concussion drug that Favre supported.