Golden Bachelorette fans are in shock over the details revealed about Joan Vassos’ late husband’s criminal past. The Maryland native, who passed away in 2021, was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to several charges. Keep reading for all the details.
Joan Vassos’ Husband Wasn’t An Angel
Golden Bachelorette viewers have cried with Joan Vassos when she talks about her late husband, John. They were married for over 30 years until he passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2021. While Joan is clearly still mourning her husband, she joined The Golden Bachelor hoping to find love again. She didn’t find it with Gerry Turner, but she might with one of the four men remaining on her season of The Golden Bachelorette.
Joan Vassos/Credit: YouTube
Joan has only spoken lovingly about her husband on the show, but his shocking criminal past has come to light. A Bachelor Nation fan took to Reddit to ask if Joan’s husband is the same John Vassos mentioned in a 2020 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
It was confirmed that, yes, that is Joan’s late husband. The press release revealed that he “pled guilty in June 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, one count of tax fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.” What was he accused of? Directly from the press release:
“[Keith] Forney participated in a scheme with John Vassos and the President of Sharp Business Systems (SBS) to obtain a contract with the Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (Maryland AOC) for copier maintenance and repair services throughout the state’s court system. In 2009, the Maryland AOC solicited bids for the contract. The contract required that at least 20% of the work be performed by a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE). SBS bid on the contract and identified FEI as the MBE.”
John Vassos was awaiting sentencing when he passed away from cancer.
Golden Bachelorette Fans React To His Shocking Past
Bachelor Nation fans on Reddit had mixed reactions to the truth about Joan’s late husband’s past. Some didn’t think it should be brought up because he passed away.
Credit: YouTube
But others speculated whether Joan knew. Check out some of the comments:
“Joan’s PR team , her kids and the PR team for the Bach have worked overtime to shut this story down . I posted about this and within minutes got a barrage of “ I hope you die “ type responses.”
“I’ve been crying over a white collar criminal?”
“I am shocked to learn the man Joan can’t stop talking about took away an opportunity from a minority run business. I feel icky.”
“I know this shouldn’t surprise me because they’ve made plenty of disastrous casting choices before but I’m very surprised that they would go with a lead who could easily have this story tied to them.”
“Wow. This absolutely supports my theory that Joan is in this for the pay check. She left the first season to try and make a run at being Golden Bachelorette. She’s picking the highest income men, and if it doesn’t work will be an influencer.”
