50 tons of cheese, 5,000 gallons of mayo: Texas women sentenced in food stamp fraud
In a case involving nearly 50 tons of illegally obtained cheese and over 5,000 gallons of mayonnaise, two Texas women have been sentenced to prison.
Authorities say Ana Rioja and Maria Consuelo de Ureno, both of Brownsville, partnered with their co-conspirators to exchange Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for food or cash at Border Meats, Rioja’s local market, for five years.
In one instance that occurred during a federal investigation, for example, they redeemed $225.91 in food stamp benefits at Border Meats for $150 in cash to an undercover agent, according to court records.
Ureno is also accused of using fraudulently obtained food stamp benefits to buy food at Sam’s Club, resell it to a partner and take the groceries to Mexico, according to court records.
In total, authorities say they conducted about $1.2 million in fraudulent transactions from September 2014 to August 2019.
The defense attorneys representing Rioja, 51, and Ureno, 55, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on March 10.
The unlawful purchases included “49.1 tons of American cheese slices, 22.3 tons of pinto beans, 1.6 tons of Folgers coffee, 1.4 tons of instant mashed potatoes and over 5,000 gallons of mayonnaise,” according to a March 9 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
Officials say Rioja, Ureno and their partners were responsible for 715 unlawful transactions linked to 83 different SNAP benefit recipients, which were later redeemed for money or food.
Rioja and Ureno pleaded guilty on May 12, 2021 to conspiring to commit and committing SNAP fraud.
About 10 months later, on Wednesday, March 9, Rioja was sentenced to 30 months in prison, a year of supervised release and $975,401 in restitution, officials said. Ureno was sentenced to 37 months in prison, three years of supervised release and nearly $1.3 million in restitution.
Rioja is released on bond, officials say, but she has agreed to voluntarily surrender on a date that has not yet been determined. Ureno is already in custody and will be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
Brownsville is a south Texas city located across the border from Matamoros, Mexico. The town is about 280 miles south of San Antonio.
This story was originally published March 10, 2022 at 6:03 PM with the headline "50 tons of cheese, 5,000 gallons of mayo: Texas women sentenced in food stamp fraud."