West Carrollton Man Sentenced For Food Stamp Fraud, Conspiracy And Tax Crimes

DAYTON – Edward “Ed” Claude Jones, 55, of West Carrollton was sentenced to 24 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release, and agreed to a $300,000 money judgment relative to committing conspiracy, food stamp fraud and tax crimes in connection with two businesses in which he was involved, the InBetween Quick Mart in Moraine and Arrow Battery in West Carrollton.

Carter M. Stewart, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, and Darryl Williams, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS) announced the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.

The Dayton Major Crimes Task Force, which is part of the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission in Attorney General DeWine’s Office, investigated the case.

According to court documents, Jones and others conspired between February 2009 and February 2011 to hide money received from the sale of counterfeit goods or the illegal purchase of Electronic Benefit Transfer “food stamp” cards by cashing 12 checks of more than $10,000 each and failing to file reports required by the Bank Secrecy Act involving large cash transactions.

Jones also filed an income tax return with the IRS using the name “Randy Banker”, a deceased individual, and a Social Security number belonging to an individual in Westerville, Ohio in an effort to conceal income he received.

Stewart commended the cooperative investigation by the task force agencies which include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General – Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), the Ohio Investigative Unit, and the police departments in Centerville, Kettering, West Carrollton, Moraine and Oakwood, and the Tactical Crime Suppression Unit. He also commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Keller, who prosecuted the case.