JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville couple could spend decades in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges that they ran a food stamp fraud scheme out of their convenience stores.
Russell Leroy Dotson, Jr., 62, and Maria Luisa Dotson, 65, each pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
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The Dotsons, who owned and ran two locations of the Asmarina Food Mart in Jacksonville, trained employees to ring up bogus transactions for customers paying with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards. The store gave customers cash for half of the value of the transaction and kept the rest.
All told, the scheme bilked the federal government out of more than $257,000. It’s unclear how much of that the couple will be required to pay back through restitution.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the case was part of a long-term investigation into food stamp fraud in Jacksonville. Eleven others have pleaded guilty to charges in the case. Collectively, they’ve been ordered to pay back a little bit more than $218,000.