Watch CBS News

Store Owners Plead Guilty To Food Stamp Fraud

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A Windsor Mill couple has pleaded to food stamp fraud in a plot to redeem the benefits in exchange for cash.

Amara Cisse and his wife Fanta Keita entered the plea Tuesday in federal court in Baltimore.

According to their plea agreements, Cisse, 50, owned Simbo Food Mart in Baltimore and Keita, 45, worked there with her husband. Prosecutors say Cisse became an authorized retailer in the SNAP program, which was previously known as food stamps.

Authorities say from November 2010 to May 2013, Cisse and Keita exchanged SNAP benefits for cash at less than face value of the benefits. The two obtained more than $600,000 in payments for food sales that never occurred.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.