The owners of a deli in Louisville, Kentucky, have been sentenced Tuesday to more than a year in prison for food stamp fraud.
AP Deli owners San Chae Chon, 73, and Yong Chae Chon, 65, admitted to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program out of $400,000 by redeeming EBT cards for cash, the Courier-Journal reported.
The Chons redeemed the EBT cards from May 2005 to August 2014 at their store.
They were originally charged with three counts of food stamp fraud but only pleaded guilty to one charge involving more than $5,000. Federal authorities dismissed the other two charges.
“The SNAP program is intended to alleviate hunger and malnutrition among lower income families by increasing their food-purchasing power,” U.S. Attorney John Kuhn said in a news release. “When the program is defrauded, the government’s capacity to assist is diminished and the public’s confidence in the program can be compromised. This successful investigation and prosecution punishes those responsible, recovers the program loss, and should help restore our faith in accountability.”
The Chons gave cash to customers in amounts significantly less than what they charged on their EBT cards but redeemed the full amount debited on the cards after processing for cash.
A former Ohio convenience store owner was also sentenced to prison for a $2.8 million food stamp fraud in February.