BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Two women were sent to federal prison for their roles in a scheme to buy food using government aid programs before the items were ultimately resold in Mexico — totaling 75 tons and an excess of $1 million in proceeds.
Late last week, 51-year-old Ana Rioja, the owner of a local meat market and 55-year-old Maria Consuelo Ureno, a legal permanent resident from Mexico, were sentenced to 30 months and 37 months in prison respectively. The court also ordered that each woman pay approximately $1 million in restitution. The women pleaded guilty to one count apiece of conspiring to defraud a government assistance program in May 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Since Ureno is a legal permanent resident, she could face deportation after her sentence.
The case began in 2016 when federal authorities began investigating the meat market which exchanged benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for groceries. Authorities also learned that Ureno used SNAP to illegally purchase items at a local Sam’s Club.
Between 2014 and 2019, the two women carried out 715 fraudulent transactions from 83 different SNAP partners. According to authorities, ultimately 50 tons of cheese, 22 tons of beans, 1.5 tons of coffee, 1.5 tons of instant mashed potatoes, and 5,000 gallons of mayonnaise were unlawfully acquired and resold in Mexico.
Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
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