Philly Sportscaster to Get out of Jail

Former Philadelphia sportscaster Don Tollefson is getting out of jail tomorrow and is headed to  an inpatient drug-treatment facility as he awaits trial on felony fraud charges involving an alleged travel-package scam, officials said.

The Philly Inquirer writes that the petition to release Tollefson was filed by a public defender - not the two high-profile attorneys who flanked him at his arraignment in Warminster in February, according to court documents. Bucks County Judge James McMaster granted the order on Tuesday, reducing Tollefson's bail from $10,000 to zero.

The use of a public defender may suggest a further fall from grace for Tollefson, who once earned nearly $5,000 a week at Philly Fox O&O before leaving the station in 2008.

His former attorneys, Michael McGovern and Ray McHugh, did not return calls for comment, nor did Bucks County public defender Christina King.

Last month, Tollefson told a district court judge at his arraignment that he had been sober for 131 days, although he didn't disclose his addiction. He will be taken to the Malvern Institute in Chester County, said Ryan Hyde, a Bucks County deputy district attorney.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 29.

Tollefson will leave jail after nearly 40 days through a county-sponsored program, Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities, operated by the Council of Southeast Pennsylvania Inc., a nonprofit program offering treatment to defendants who suffer from addiction.

"This is an opportunity for individuals whose drug and alcohol abuse has led them to criminal activity to turn their lives around," according to the nonprofit's website.

Hyde had argued at the February arraignment that Tollefson deserved high bail to prevent him from trying to scam more people.