A Marietta convenience store owner who admitted letting customers use food stamps to buy more than $500,000 in alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and other unapproved items was sentenced Friday to serve two years, nine months in a federal penitentiary.
Shamsha Mirza Vasaya also was ordered to pay restitution in the exact amount of the money she stole from the government: $557,421.32, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Vasaya ran the scheme out of her Chevron Food Mart at 811 South Marietta Parkway from June 2009 to July 2011, even after authorities warned her in 2009 to stop.
The woman not only let customers buy goods not allowed under the federal food stamp program, customers told Channel 2 she charged more for goods bought with the stamps than with cash -- demanding $10 for a $5 pack of cigarettes, for example.
Vasaya and family members pleaded with the court to let her remain free on probation so that she could continue running the convenience store and support her family.
U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones denied the request but allowed Vasaya to remain free for several weeks to arrange her affairs before reporting to prison. The Chevron was closed Friday, Channel 2 reported.
-- Dispatch editor Christopher Seward contributed to this article.
About the Author
