Melissa Mapp
Kisha Howard
The Mississippi Department of Human Services wants to get the word out that a crack-down on food stamp fraud is here.
Along with Jones County Sheriff’s deputies and investigators, the MDHS arrested eight women on charges they were fraudulently using the taxpayer-provided Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Kisha D. Howard, 35, was standing outside of her Westhill Apartments unit when a marked sheriff’s car and undercover pickup arrived. She was quickly placed
Kimberly Hogan
Jalesia Haynes
in handcuffs by Deputy Brennan Chancellor and led off to jail.
“I’m being arrested for food-stamp fraud? I never heard of that,” said Howard,
standing in her living room with a flat-screen television, Christmas tree and plenty of presents visible underneath.
The arrests were all part of more than a six-month investigation by the Fraud Investigations division of
Cindy Hernandez
Casey Holliman
the Mississippi Department of Human Services. Friday’s crack-down spanned from Moselle to the
Smith County line, where Smith County deputies picked up one huckster for the JCSD.
“The benefits are there to help people, but they’re there to help in the right way,” DHS Director of Investigations Ken Palmer said.
In these cases, clients either failed to include all their income or listed someone as a dependent in their
Angela Pitts
Amanda Black
home who did not really live there, he said.
“The application is clear and (DHS employees) pretty much take their word for it until something down the road comes up,” Palmer said.
Others arrested Friday were: Amanda Black, 31; Kimberly Hogan, 32; JalesiaHaynes, 24; Melissa Mapp, 36; Kisha Howard, 35; Angela Pitts, 36; and Casey Holliman, 30 and Cindy Hernandez. Addresses were not available, but Palmer said all of those arrested were living in Jones County.
Additional arrests could also be made.
SNAP is a federally funded program paid for entirely by taxpayers. Together, the seven charged used about $75,000 of those funds.
“We’re trying to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Palmer said.
During fiscal year 2013, investigators handled 55 cases totaling more than $400,000 across the state of Mississippi.
Palmer said he is grateful to the Jones County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance.
“None of this would be possible without them,” Palmer said.
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