ATLANTA -- Two convenience-store owners in Georgia have been sentenced for using stolen identities to steal more than $395,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which offers nutritional assistance to low-income individuals and families.
The defendants, Jonathan and Stephanie Dupiton, illegally obtained SNAP benefits for themselves and then cashed them at stores they owned in several Georgia communities, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Dupitons owned and operated two c-stores in Cobb County, Ga.; J. Good Groceries in Mableton, Ga.; and Stephanie’s Groceries in Austell, Ga.
From July 2014 through October 2015, the defendants used stolen identities to apply for SNAP benefits, which were loaded onto electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, the department said. The Dupitons directed the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS), which administers SNAP, to mail hundreds of EBT cards to addresses they controlled. The Dupitons then collected and swiped the fraudulent SNAP cards at their c-stores, officials said.
More than $800,000 in SNAP payments were deposited in their bank accounts. The DHS and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) were able to link $395,000 of those funds to 321 fraudulent SNAP accounts.
“This type of fraudulent activity undermines this vital program by misdirecting millions of dollars of taxpayer funds from the purposes [for which] they were intended,” said Karen Citizen-Wilcox, special agent in charge for the USDA’s Office of Inspector General.
Jonathan Dupiton, 28, of Atlanta was sentenced to three years, nine months in prison, and Stephanie Dupiton, 24, also of Atlanta, was sentenced to six months in prison. Both defendants were also sentenced to three years of supervised release, were charged a special assessment of $100, and ordered to pay $395,388.01 in restitution. Both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud in April 2017, after pleading guilty to these charges. Jonathan Dupiton was also convicted of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence.
The USDA, DHS and Office of Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Brown was the prosecutor.
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