Former Philly Sports Anchor Backs Out of Plea Deal

It appears that a former Philly Sports Anchor has changed his mind on guilty plea.

Today, Don Tollefson surprised everyone when withdrew his guilty plea to defrauding sports fans out of phony travel packages and now says he will represent himself at a trial on the charges.

The Philly Inquirer writes that as he appeared before Bucks County Judge Rea Boylan for sentencing, the onetime celebrity sportscaster said he would serve as his own attorney going forward because he lacked the money to pay a lawyer for a trial. 

Tollefson had pleaded guilty in September to selling more than 200 people about $317,000 worth of bogus travel packages to high-profile sporting events like the Super Bowl or out-of-town Eagles games. He apparently told buyers that the proceeds would be used to benefit local charities.

But police said after Tollefson collected money for the trips, pieces of the promised itinerary, such as tickets to the game or hotel rooms, would never materialize. Tollefson would generally cease communication with the buyer once he had their cash, police said.

Tollefson, once the city's highest-paid sportscaster, has never directly explained why he engineered such a ruse. But he has said that while he was selling the packages, he struggled with addiction.