South St. Paul basketball coach resigns. Court hearing on fraud case postponed after attorney ill. [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.]
Jan. 12—South
McCollister was scheduled to appear at an arraignment hearing before U.S. District Judge
However, the hearing had to be postponed after McCollister's attorney,
The court rescheduled the hearing to
McCollister, 41, of
Federal prosecutors on
Sentencing guidelines call for 10 to 16 months in prison, Pacyga said.
TEAM MOVES FORWARD
McCollister has coached South
On Wednesday morning, McCollister emailed his resignation letter to the human resources director for
Upon a guilty plea, McCollister would have faced immediate termination from the school district under its employee policy.
As far as who now will be coaching the undefeated
"As a district, we have developed a plan to have coaching coverage at all basketball practices and games. Also, the current basketball coaching staff will continue to handle and perform duties as they have throughout this basketball season. We look forward to continued success with our student athletes for the remainder of the season."
The
Since August, McCollister also has worked at the high school as a full-time student support assistant, which is a paraeducator job. In that role, McCollister worked with student-support specialists who focus on student behavior.
According the school district, McCollister's coaching stipend for this season was supposed to be
WHAT HE IS ACCUSED OF
According to the federal charge, McCollister and unnamed others conspired to defraud auto insurers on policies provided pursuant to the state's no-fault insurance law.
According to Pacyga, prosecutors allege McCollister hired "runners" to recruit clients who were supposedly injured in car crashes. The same runners would work with chiropractors who would fraudulently bill auto insurance companies for those clients' care, taking advantage of the no-fault insurance law.
In
It is a state, not federal, crime for an attorney to work with runners. What got McCollister prosecuted in
Also last month, a state agency that polices the behavior of Minnesota lawyers recommended that McCollister be disbarred for professional misconduct in 2019 and 2020, including that he misappropriated client funds. McCollister opened his personal injury law firm in
Besides South
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South St. Paul boys basketball coach, charged with conspiracy to commit health care fraud, resigns [Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.]
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