Ex-MSU football coach Mel Tucker accused of misappropriating money by wife amid divorce

Lansing — Mel Tucker’s estranged wife, Jo Ellyn Tucker, filed for divorce earlier this month and has since accused the former Michigan State football coach of spending more than $1.5 million of their joint funds to pay for third-party legal fees, according to court documents obtained by The Detroit News. 

Jo Ellyn also accused Mel of moving money from their joint funds to an account she doesn’t have access to, court filings show. 

An Ingham County judge granted the two a mutual restraining order last week that prevents “the dissipation of marital assets.” 

Jo Ellyn filed for divorce on April 5 after 24 years of marriage, stating there had been “a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed.” She also said in the court filing “there remains no reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved.” 

Jo Ellyn is seeking the dissolution of the marriage, spousal support and “equitable division of the parties’ mutual property.” 

In her petition for the restraining order filed last week, Jo Ellyn accused Mel of withdrawing “all of the funds” from his retirement accounts, including one with Michigan State, without giving her notice and putting the money in a separate account. 

She also says in the court documents that Mel has used more than $1.5 million from their joint line of credit to defend himself in a third-party litigation that she believes is “not a marital expense.” Mel withdrew $100,000 from that joint account as recently as April 23, the legal filings show. 

Mel Tucker, whom Michigan State hired away from Colorado in 2020, was suspended last September after he was accused of sexually harassing rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy, who had previously been contracted to speak to the Spartan football team. Michigan State later fired him for cause, less than two years after Tucker signed a historic 10-year, $95 million contract extension that made him one of college football’s highest-paid coaches.

The Detroit News reported in March that Tracy filed an intent to sue Michigan State and others for $75 million for damaging her personal and professional reputations.

mkenney@detroitnews.com

@madkenney