Store Owner Sentenced To Three Years For Defrauding Government Assistance Program

PHILADELPHIA - Saud Saleh, 30, of Philadelphia, PA, was sentenced today to three years in prison for defrauding the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the  food stamp program. The defendant had pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking in SNAP benefits and committing wire fraud.

The defendant owned and operated Twinz Meat Market, a retail grocery store, now defunct, that was located at 3083 Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia. At his guilty plea hearing, the defendant admitted that he knowingly trafficked in SNAP benefits, and directed his employees to traffic in SNAP benefits, by purchasing those benefits from customers of Twinz Meats, which is illegal. The defendant admitted that within a 12-month period, he was responsible for a program loss of $1,125,586.

In addition to the prison term, United States District Court Judge Gerald J.  Pappert ordered restitution of $1,125,586 to USDA and three years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Floyd J. Miller.