Two more metro Atlanta convenience store clerks have pleaded guilty to participating in food stamp schemes that netted them millions, federal authorities said Tuesday.
From January 2008 through January 2011, Sholondrell Taylor, the operator of Dandes Food Center in Forest Park and Shop Rite Food Mart in Atlanta, allowed customers to exchange their food stamp benefits for cash at a rate of 50 cents on the dollar, U.S. Attorney John Horn said.
Many of the customers who illegally sold food stamp benefits to Taylor never visited the stores she used to carry out her $1.6-million scheme, Horn said.
That’s because Taylor employed a driver to collect food stamp cards and federal Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] vouchers from those willing to sell them for a fraction of their value, he said..
Taylor set the rates of redemption, instructed her employees to keep detailed ledgers of all transactions to ensure they were not stealing from her and trained them on how to determine the available balances on food stamp cards. Taylor also required employees to obtain WIC voucher codes and usable voucher dates before purchasing the vouchers, Horn said.
The case came to the attention of federal authorities as a result of an investigation that led to similar charges for Georgia Department of Human Services employees Gene Tell and Kristy Williams in 2011. They were charged in connection with creating and distributing thousands of food stamp cards, many of which were redeemed at the Dandes Food Center Taylor operated, Horn said.
“Taylor abused the food stamp program for her own financial gain, taking advantage of families in need and stealing over a million dollars from taxpayers,” Horn said. “Her elaborate scheme even included a driver to pick up food stamps and WIC vouchers from those willing to sell them for a fraction of their value.”
Sentencing for Taylor, 47, of Ellenwood, has not yet been scheduled.
Just last Monday, former DeKalb County convenience store owner Tessema Lulseged, 49, was sentenced to federal prison for trafficking food stamps at his Decatur's Big T Supermarket.
And Samuel Kwushue, who owned and operated KD Metro Tropical Market in Atlanta, also pleaded guilty to eight counts of wire fraud for illegally exchanging food stamp benefits for cash in his convenience store. Between late 2010 to approximately June 2015, Kwushe exchanged food stamp benefits at a rate of approximately 60 cents on the dollar, netting Kwushue about $2 million and customers nearly $3 million, Horn said.
Undercover agents helped investigators unearth the scheme when they noticed the small convenience store gradually increased its food stamp transactions each month from about $1,100 in October 2010 to $200,000 in June 2015, Horn said.
Sentencing for Kwushue, 54, of Union City, has not yet been scheduled.
“The federal food stamp program is intended to help low-income citizens obtain needed nutritional assistance for themselves and their families,” Horn said. “Instead, Kwushue abused the program by exchanging food stamp benefits for cash so he could enrich himself.”
About the Author
