Two Brownsville, Texas women were sentenced to prison after being found guilty of conspiracy and perpetrating $1.2 million in food stamp fraud, according to KWTX.
Ana Rioja, 51, and Maria Consuelo de Ureno, 55, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit and committing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) fraud on May 12, 2021.
Rioja was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by a year of supervised release, by U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera Jr.
Ureno was sentenced to 37 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Following her release from prison, she may lose her legal status in the United States and face removal proceedings.
Judge Olvera also ordered Rioja and Ureno to pay restitution in the amounts of $975,401 and $1,284,282.15 each.
Starting in February 2016, the investigation showed Ureno, Rioja, and other co-conspirators used a point of sale machine at a neighborhood meat market owned by Rioja to swap SNAP benefits for cash.
Ureno and his co-conspirators were also discovered to have made bogus purchases at Sam’s Wholesale Club.
The investigation uncovered 715 fraudulent transactions associated with 83 distinct SNAP benefit recipients, which conspirators redeemed for cash or food.
Ureno’s fraudulent purchases included 49.1 tons of American cheese slices, 22.3 tons of pinto beans, 1.6 tons of Folgers coffee, 1.4 tons of instant mashed potatoes, and over 5,000 gallons of mayonnaise, which she intended to sell to a partner and transport to Mexico.
Both women committed approximately $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions between September 2014 and August 2019.
Ureno has been detained and will remain so until he is transferred to a US Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be decided in the near future.
Rioja was allowed to stay on bond and voluntarily surrender at a later date to be decided.
