food market owner sentenced for food stamp fraud
PHILADELPHIA - Florence Kingsley, 59, of Darby, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for a scheme to defraud the Federal Food Stamp Program. Kingsley, who owned Aunty Florence’s West African Food Market, in Darby, PA, exchanged Food Stamp benefits for cash over a period of several years, in violation of Federal law. In one instance, Kingsley purchased $200.23 in Food Stamp benefits and gave the Food Stamp recipient $120 in cash, keeping the remaining monetary value for herself. The Court determined that Kingsley defrauded the government program of a total of $225,000.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Stewart Dalzell ordered Kingsley to pay restitution to the government in the amount of $225,000, special assessment of $100, and three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Floyd J. Miller.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
Suite 1250, 615 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
PATTY HARTMAN, Media Contact, 215-861-8525
