Massachusetts Woman Pleads Guilty to $3.6M in Food Stamp Fraud

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) _ A Worcester woman has pleaded guilty to defrauding the government of more than $3 million in food stamp benefits through a scheme she ran out of her convenience store.

The Telegram & Gazette reports Vida Ofori Causey pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges including conspiracy to commit Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors said 45-year-old Causey ran a cash-for-food-stamps scheme in which she and two store clerks bought the benefits at 50 cents for every SNAP dollar, then submitted the full value of the benefits to the government for reimbursement. Causey pleaded guilty to stealing about $3.6 million.

Causey's lawyer says prosecutors recommended a four-year sentence as part of the plea agreement. She's scheduled for sentencing in March.