DALLAS, Texas — Two North Texas men have been sentenced for their roles in a massive food stamp fraud scheme that caused nearly $2 million in losses to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
Kamardeen Ogunleye, 52, of Arlington, Texas, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater on Friday to 60 months in federal prison. His business partner, Robert Gordon, 31, of Balch Springs, Texas, was sentenced by Judge Fitzwater to 27 months in federal prison on Thursday, July 24, 2014.
Each was also ordered to pay approximately $1.9 million in restitution, jointly and severally, to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service. Both must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on September 9, 2014.
In April 2014, both Ogunleye and Gordon pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit food stamp fraud. Ogunleye also pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.
Ogunleye owned and operated KSO Dollar Mart, located in a strip mall at 1918 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dallas. Gordon managed the business for Ogunleye. The scheme was funneled through this storefront, which offered very few food and beverage items to its customers.
According to plea documents filed in the case, from March 2010 to September 2013, Ogunleye and Gordon devised and executed a scheme to defraud the USDA by using, acquiring, transferring and possessing SNAP benefits. Ogunleye and Gordon conspired to purchase food stamp benefits from actual recipients in exchange for cash and at an approximately 50 percent exchange rate, meaning Ogunleye and Gordon would pay recipients approximately one dollar in exchange for every two dollars’ worth of benefits.
The full amount of SNAP benefits redeemed in exchange for discounted cash were deposited into Ogunleye’s Omni American Bank and Bank of America accounts held in Arlington, Texas. Between April 9, 2010, and June 17, 2013, SNAP redemptions totaling $2,109,859 were deposited into those two accounts.
Related Federal Cases
- Jason Jarin, Medicaid Fraud and Illicit Transition Procedures, Texas 2023 · Texas
- Jose Antonio Caballero, Mortgage Fraud Scheme, Texas 2011 · Texas
- Shannon Tecoko Mays, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Texas 2012 · Kansas
- Kenneth Ray Shackelford, Red River Army Depot Fraud, Texas 2007 · Kansas
- Cathy Harvill and William Harvill, Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, Texas 2014 · Kansas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
