The Justice Department says prosecutors and federal agents took action against more than 40 defendants in USDA fraud cases between September 1 and October 21, 2026. The schemes carry nearly $45 million in intended losses, and nearly $42 million of that involved the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP or food stamps. The department calls it a nationwide enforcement surge, and the agriculture inspector general says it is only the start.
What the $45 million and $42 million figures cover
The totals come from the department’s October 21 announcement, Press Release No. 26-1238. It counts work by the National Fraud Enforcement Division, 13 U.S. attorney’s offices and the Utah attorney general’s office over about seven weeks. The department describes the schemes as alleged or proven, so the figures mix pending charges with guilty pleas and sentences.
The money at stake is federal food aid for low-income households. Anyone who gets SNAP, or helps a parent or neighbor who does, should know the cases fall into a few kinds: stolen card data drained through stores, store owners who paid cash for benefits, and applications built on stolen identities. Households are most exposed in the first and last kinds, because a card or an identity belongs to a real person.
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One case in the surge has nothing to do with SNAP. Mark Frisbie pleaded guilty on September 29 in the Middle District of Florida to false crop-insurance claims, after hiding more than $6 million in bell pepper and tomato sales and causing $1,748,408 in improper payments. The roughly $3 million gap between the $45 million and $42 million totals covers USDA matters outside SNAP like that one.
Cases that show how the schemes worked
The largest case is a $29.7 million indictment of Jorag Yaseen and Rami Kanaan in the Southern District of Ohio, about 70 percent of the SNAP total. The indictment alleges Chicago stores ran thousands of sales on stolen Ohio EBT information. The Georgia case against Mercedes New, who goes by “Shawty Dred,” carries an estimated loss of $4.4 million. Phone numbers linked to him allegedly called the SNAP EBT phone line more than 9,000 times and reached over 350 accounts.
In Michigan, Kirk Woodley and Chantel Peavy used the identities of more than 650 victims to file hundreds of fraudulent SNAP applications, then had the EBT cards mailed to addresses they controlled. The intended loss is $1.1 million. Woodley pleaded guilty on September 22, and Peavy was sentenced to 18 months on October 20. Another Michigan case, in Lansing, centers on a convenience store owner accused of paying 50 cents in cash per dollar of benefits.
A sentencing in Oregon shows how trafficking can run past the store counter. Ana Patricia Escalante, who led a crew that moved infant formula bought with stolen SNAP benefits, was sentenced on September 9 to 27 months and ordered to pay $2.4 million in restitution. Of 17 people indicted in that case, 12 have been sentenced to a combined 157 months, and records showed more than 124,000 pounds of formula shipped.
The surge also reaches past stores and cards. In eastern Pennsylvania, a 39-count indictment filed October 8 charges four people with targeting intellectually disabled women to control their Social Security and SNAP benefits. The department puts the SNAP loss in that case at $13,392 and the Social Security loss at $27,227.
Smaller cases sit alongside the big ones. Prosecutors in Utah charged a co-owner of Sahara Market in Taylorsville over an intended loss of $5,994.89, and a Massachusetts complaint alleges $22,402 in SNAP benefits were obtained with a stolen identity. In Euclid, Ohio, six people were charged by complaint with swapping EBT cards for cash, marijuana and non-SNAP items over about two years, for an intended loss of $1 million. Indictments and complaints are allegations, and the department notes that defendants are presumed innocent.
What officials said, and what comes next
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the schemes “siphoned millions from taxpayers and robbed struggling Americans.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said, “Every instance of SNAP fraud has two victims: families in dire need and taxpayers.” Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald described a human cost “measured not in spreadsheets, but in the panic of a mother” whose card is compromised.
John Walk, the USDA inspector general, said the surge “is only the beginning.” His office’s website lists the release as its newest SNAP item and describes law enforcement actions in dozens of cases. John Condon of Homeland Security Investigations described criminal networks that use skimming devices, stolen identities and fraudulent retailers.
The Fraud Division was created April 7 and supports the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance. Partners on the cases include the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the Postal Inspection Service, the Secret Service and the Social Security inspector general. The department has not said how many more cases are coming.
The 13 offices that took part cover Arkansas (Eastern), Florida (Middle), Georgia (Northern), Iowa (Northern), Maryland, Michigan (Eastern and Western), Missouri (Eastern), Ohio (Northern and Southern), Oklahoma (Northern), Oregon and Pennsylvania (Eastern). Cases from Michigan and Ohio show up twice in the release, which makes those two states the busiest on the list.
Households that suspect a problem with a card go first to their state SNAP office, and the USDA state directory links to the office in every state, the District of Columbia, New York City, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The federal agency says it has no information on individual applications, so the local office is the place to start. The inspector general takes confidential or anonymous complaints about USDA programs online through its hotline site.
The release lists no tips line of its own and does not say how many of the 40-plus defendants touched an individual household’s card. The open question for a SNAP household is who to call first when a balance drops and no purchase explains it.
Who takes the call when a SNAP card is drained?
In these cases the thieves worked from stolen EBT data, calls to a benefits phone line and cards mailed to addresses they controlled. A household that notices a problem late is left dealing with a state office that wants dates, notices and paperwork in order.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer does not stop fraud, and it is not a government product. The crackdown is about criminals; what a household controls is its own paperwork. Part 7 covers reporting changes and EBT problems, the 51 state packs lay out each state’s SNAP and Medicaid rules, and the renewal and reporting calendar keeps those dates in one place.
Get the SNAP renewal calendar and 51 state packs in one organizer →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
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.
