Former MSU football coach Mel Tucker accused by wife of moving money in divorce

The wife of former Michigan State University head football coach Mel Tucker has filed for divorce and accuses him in a request for a restraining order of pulling money without notice from their joint funds, including $1.5 million to pay his legal expenses.

Jo Ellyn and Mel Tucker were granted a mutual restraining order preventing "the dissipation of marital assets" on Thursday by a judge in Ingham County, Michigan, court records show. Her divorce complaint was filed with the court three weeks earlier, on April 5.

In her petition for the restraining order, Jo Ellyn Tucker indicated she sought the order because just before she initiated the divorce action, Mel Tucker withdrew all the money from his two retirement accounts, including his Michigan State account. She said he transferred them to an individual account to which she did not have access.

She also accused Tucker of spending more than $1.5 million from their joint line of credit to defend himself in third-party litigation, which she described as not a marital expense, plus another $100,000 since the divorce filing – as recently as April 23. The amount he has spent on litigation, her petition said, is excessive "compared to the balance of the parties' marital estate."

Mel Tucker and his attorney did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Mel Tucker was sued in Ingham County court in October by Brenda Tracy, a prominent rape survivor and activist who accused him of sexually harassing and exploiting her – allegations substantiated by an MSU investigation. She was granted a restraining order to stop him from releasing private text messages he had obtained from the cellphone of her deceased best friend and business assistant, which she said contained personal and business information. That litigation is ongoing.

Last month, Tracy also filed an intent to sue Tucker and the university – a mandatory precursor to filing a lawsuit against a government agency – accusing him of damaging her reputation and future earnings, hamstringing her charitable work and causing severe psychological and emotional harm.

Tracy and her nonprofit, Set The Expectation, which aims to reduce sexual violence by engaging men, are seeking damages of more than $75 million.

Mel Tucker had hired Tracy in August 2021 to speak to his team about sexual violence prevention. After their initial meeting, he expressed interest in Tracy’s cause of engaging men as the solution to gender-based violence, and they struck up a professional relationship and friendship. Over the next year, Tucker twice invited Tracy back to East Lansing, first to be the honorary captain at a Spartans football game and again for a future training with coaches and players.

USA TODAY Investigation:Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker accused of sexually harassing rape survivor

During that time, Tucker made a series of romantic overtures toward Tracy, who would later tell campus investigators that she walked a tightrope trying to set boundaries with Tucker while maintaining their business partnership. Each time, she said, he initially pulled back, then resumed advances that increased in severity. The pattern culminated in a phone call in April 2022 in which Tracy said Tucker masturbated and make sexual comments without her consent.

Tracy said the next – and last – time they spoke, in August 2022, Tucker threatened to ruin her career if she spoke out about his conduct. She filed a complaint with the university's Title IX office that December.

A USA TODAY investigation in September revealed the allegations for the first time publicly. MSU fired Tucker for cause two weeks later, canceling the roughly $75 million remaining on his record 10-year, $95 million contract. Even Tucker's version of events – that he and Tracy had been in a romantic relationship and had consensual "phone sex" – constituted a fireable offense, athletic director Alan Haller wrote in his termination letter.

After a seven-month inquiry by an outside investigator hired by MSU, a different outside hearing officer concluded in October that Tucker sexually harassed and exploited Tracy in the April 2022 phone call; made unwanted sexual advances toward her in the eight months before the call; and engaged in quid pro quo sexual harassment afterward when he ended their business relationship.

Another outside attorney hired by MSU denied Tucker's appeal in January, affirming the hearing officer's decision that Tracy's version of events was more plausible, consistent and supported by the evidence.

Tucker and his attorneys indicated he would sue MSU for wrongful termination. To date, they have not done so.

Kenny Jacoby is an investigative reporter for USA TODAY covering sexual misconduct and Title IX. Contact him by email at [email protected] or follow him on X @kennyjacoby.