Florida man, partner use $90K in food stamps to stock Wisconsin restaurant, feds say
A Florida man and his business partner are accused of using more than 350 fraudulent food stamp cards for their Wisconsin restaurant, federal prosecutors say.
James Davis, a 53-year-old from Port St. Lucie, Florida, and 49-year-old Wisconsin man Gary Baker are charged with four counts of wire fraud and two counts of food stamp fraud in the five-year scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin announced Wednesday.
They are accused of using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards from 2011 to 2016 to stock their Madison, Wisconsin, restaurant and food cart, both named JD’s, officials say.
They fraudulently obtained 358 SNAP cards, which operate similarly to debit cards, to purchase more than $90,000 in food and other items from Sam’s Club, according to prosecutors. The cards represented 254 Wisconsin households.
Davis and Baker face up to 20 years of federal prison for each wire fraud charge and five years of prison for each food stamp fraud charge, officials say.
