Ohio Business Owner Gets 14 Months in Prison for $8.5 Million Food Stamp Fraud

The owner of an Ohio business who committed $8.5 million in food stamp fraud was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Wednesday.

Judge Thomas M. Rose of the U.S. District Court in Dayton ordered that Kaitlin E. Koher, 34, of Jackson Township, serve 14 months in federal prison and repay the federal government $639,779 as part of sentencing, CantonRep.com reported.

Federal court filings show that Koher’s business, Ohio Direct Distributors (ODD), conducted more than $8.5 million in fraudulent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) transactions between August 2011 and September 2017.

The Better Business Bureau listed ODD as a home delivery service of meat, poultry, seafood, and pork products that started on July 1, 2010.

Investigators say ODD illegally processed SNAP transactions by trading credit and gift cards for access to a family’s benefits.

ODD often “completed transactions without the individual recipient’s knowledge or consent,” court filings obtained by CantonRep.com show.

Koher’s attorney, Christian M. Cavalier, said she will remain in her home until after the holidays, when she is expected to report to a federal prison at a to-be-determined date in January.

Koher is not the first to be sentenced for food stamp fraud in recent months. In November, a judge sentenced a Newark, New Jersey, store owner to 37 months in prison for committing $750,000 in food stamp fraud, and in September, a food truck owner was sentenced to probation for conducting an $82,000 food stamp fraud scheme.