James E. Franklin Jr. Sentenced in USDA Child Meal Fraud

A Marianna man has been locked up for robbing hungry children of meals meant to sustain them. James E. Franklin Jr., 34, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. to 24 months in federal prison for his role in a brazen scheme to steal $380,055.36 from USDA-funded meal programs designed to feed low-income kids across eastern Arkansas.

Franklin, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud on September 16, 2016, will serve two years under court supervision after his release. He was also ordered to repay every stolen dollar—$380,055.36—in restitution. The funds were meant for children in Hughes and Brinkley, Arkansas, but investigators say Franklin served barely a fraction of the meals he claimed.

Through a shell organization called ‘JL&N Outreach,’ Franklin operated two approved feeding sites—one in Hughes, the other in Brinkley. He reported feeding up to 244 children daily in Hughes and 287 in Brinkley. Reality? Witnesses confirmed no more than 10 kids per day in Brinkley and 15 in Hughes ever received meals. The rest was smoke, lies, and theft on paper.

The fraud ran deep. Franklin was recruited by Anthony Waits, whose wife, Gladys Waits, worked for the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) and rubber-stamped Franklin’s application. In return, Franklin handed over nearly 40% of the stolen funds—$152,022.14—to Anthony Waits, greasing a corrupt pipeline from taxpayer programs to personal pockets.

Franklin is the fourth defendant sentenced in this sprawling USDA fraud ring. Eight others have already pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Three—Jacqueline Mills, Dorothy Harper, and Anthony Waits—are set to stand trial on March 27, 2017, before U.S. District Judge James M. Moody, Jr., as federal prosecutors dismantle the network piece by piece.

The investigation, led by the USDA–Office of Inspector General, FBI, IRS–Criminal Investigations, and U.S. Marshals Service, remains active. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jana K. Harris, Allison W. Bragg, and Cameron McCree are handling the prosecution. Anyone with evidence of feeding program fraud is urged to email USAARE.FeedingProgramFraud@usdoj.gov.

RELATED: Tonique Hatton Sentenced in USDA Child Feeding Fraud

RELATED: Michael P. Ayala Gets 23 Years for Meth Conspiracy in Springfield