December 02, 2015
The United States Attorney's Office in Philadelphia announced Wednesday the sentencing of a Philadelphia-based grocery store owner who ran a food stamp scam that netted over $1 million.
In the announcement, the Attorney's Office said that Sad Saleh, 30, was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding the United States Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was formerly known as the food stamp program.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said that Saleh pleaded guilty to charges of trafficking in SNAP benefits and committing wire fraud.
According to documents shared by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Saleh is the owner and operator of Twinz Meat Market, a now defunct retail grocery store, that was located at 3083 Kensington Avenue.
Saleh knowingly trafficked in SNAP benefits, and directed his employees to traffic in SNAP benefits, by illegally purchasing benefits from customers of Twinz Meats.
Within a year, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Saleh was responsible for a program loss of $1,125,586.
In addition to the prison sentence, United States District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert ordered Saleh to pay a restitution of $1,125,586 to the USDA and serve three years of probation.
