Special agents from the South Carolina Department of Social Services arrested a 39-year-old Richland County woman on September 23 and charged her with fraudulently receiving $33,410 in food stamp benefits. The department’s Office of Inspector General made the arrest with help from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, according to a release the agency published September 29. The woman, Davita Burnett, was booked at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
DSS charged her with fraudulent acquisition or use of food stamps valued at $10,000 or more. The agency’s notice says the individual named in the criminal matter “is presumed innocent until tried and found guilty in a court of law,” and the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute.
Food stamps is the older name for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which the release says is “formerly known as food stamps.” For the households on SNAP in South Carolina, the question is what the department treats as fraud and how a case like this one starts. The DSS release does not say how the alleged scheme worked or what period the $33,410 covers, so those details are not part of the public record yet.
The $33,410 is one figure in the running list of arrests that DSS announces, and each new release carries its own total.
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What the $10,000 line means in South Carolina law
The charge named in the release matches the title of Section 16-13-430 of the state code, “Fraudulent acquisition or use of food stamps.” The statute sets penalties by the value of the benefits. For $10,000 or more it makes the offense a felony punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment for up to ten years, or both.
The lower tiers show how far the $33,410 sits above the cutoff. Benefits worth more than $2,000 but less than $10,000 are a felony with a fine of up to $500 or up to five years in prison, or both. At $2,000 or less the offense is a misdemeanor, with a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 30 days in jail, or both. The alleged total in this case is more than three times the line for the top tier, where the ten-year ceiling is double the five-year cap on the middle tier and the fine ceiling is ten times higher.
How DSS defines an intentional violation
A criminal charge is only one path. On its program integrity page, DSS defines an intentional program violation as making a false or misleading statement, or misrepresenting, concealing or withholding facts, and as committing an act that violates SNAP law or rules, such as using, transferring or trafficking benefit access devices.
The department lists the kinds of abuse it investigates: filing a false application for SNAP or cash assistance, not reporting the correct household members, not reporting household members’ income, and trafficking SNAP benefits, meaning trading or selling benefit cards for cash, tobacco, alcohol or ineligible nonfood items. Which of those, if any, applies to Burnett has not been stated.
People found through adjudication to have committed an intentional violation are disqualified from SNAP. The page sets the periods at 12 months for a first violation, 24 months for a second and permanent disqualification for a third. A first offense of buying illegal drugs with SNAP draws 24 months, and a first court conviction for trafficking $500 or more in benefits brings a permanent ban. A false statement about identity or residence to receive multiple benefits at once is 10 years.
Who investigates and who prosecutes
The roles in this case are split three ways. The DSS Office of Inspector General made the arrest, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department helped, and the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute. The release gives no bond information and no court date, and it names no spokesperson. It closes by pointing readers to the department’s fraud-reporting website and a hotline number.
That leaves a short list of facts that are known: the arrest date of September 23, the age of 39, the county, the charge, the amount of $33,410 and the agency that made the arrest. Anything beyond that, including whether the case involved an application, an electronic benefits card or a retailer, will have to come from court filings.
Reporting suspected SNAP fraud in South Carolina
DSS takes reports of suspected benefit fraud through a fraud hotline and an online form. The agency’s fraud page carries the online reporting form, and the program integrity page lists the hotline number. Both are the free official route.
People who receive benefits and have a question about their own case can start by checking that every household member and every source of household income was reported correctly, since DSS lists unreported members and unreported income among the violations it investigates.
The department’s September 29 release is the only public account so far. Burnett is presumed innocent, and any court date, plea or ruling will have to come from the court and the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
