Joseph Martin Padilla, Food Stamp Program Defrauding, New Mexico 2014

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - A former employee of the Income Support Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department was sentenced to prison for defrauding the federal food stamp program.

Joseph Martin Padilla, 34, of Albuquerque, N.M., was sentenced in federal court on August 2014 to one year and a day in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Padilla was also ordered to pay $181,398.76 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Padilla is one of six defendants charged with defrauding the Food Stamp Program in a 32-count indictment that was filed in August 2014. The indictment alleged that between September 2009 to May 2010, Padilla conspired with Wilfredo Lopez, 47, Joshua Moya, 33, Justin Quintana, 29, Sergio Escobedo, 36, and Veronica Hernandez, 41, to defraud the United States through the unauthorized use of Food Stamp benefits, which are currently called Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

SNAP is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is administered by the States. The program was created to alleviate hunger and malnutrition, and permits low income households to obtain more nutritious diet by increasing the food purchasing power for eligible households. In New Mexico, individuals qualify to participate in SNAP based on income and need by completing an application with the Income Support Division of HSD.

Padilla worked as a Family Assistance Analyst for the Income Support Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department where he was responsible for determining applicants' eligibility and benefit level for SNAP benefits. The indictment charged Padilla with abusing his position as a Family Assistance Analyst by conspiring with his co-defendants to defraud the United States through the unauthorized use of SNAP benefits.

Padilla used names and personal identifiers he obtained from his co-defendants to establish fraudulent SNAP accounts, sometimes in exchange for cash or other things of value. It also charged Padilla with establishing and using a fraudulent SNAP account to fraudulently obtain approximately $1,468.00 in SNAP benefits for himself. According to the indictment, Padilla fraudulently established 25 separate SNAP accounts through which the United States was defrauded of approximately $45,263.00 in SNAP benefits.

On November 23, 2015, Padilla pled guilty to two counts of the indictment and admitted that he was previously employed by HSD and despite his awareness of the policies and procedures of HSD, he processed numerous applications for SNAP benefits in a fraudulent manner in exchange for cash payments. Padilla acknowledged that his illegal conduct resulted in an aggregate loss to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the State of New Mexico of approximately $181,398.76.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/former-employee-new-mexico-human-services-department-sentenced-prison-defrauding-federal