Restaurant owner sentenced to 27 years

A restaurant owner in Beaumont was convicted and sentenced to 27 years following an OIG investigation into SNAP benefits trafficking. More than 60 benefits recipients were also charged in the case.

In 2018, the OIG’s Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Trafficking unit in Houston detected irregularities at a large discount retailer in Beaumont. After an investigation, a search warrant was executed on a Beaumont restaurant. Members of EBT Trafficking from across the state coordinated with multiple agencies to search the restaurant, arrested the restaurant owner, and obtained signed statements from several other offenders and witnesses.

The restaurant owner had been buying benefits from SNAP recipients at a discounted rate and using the benefits to make purchases at the discount retailer for his restaurant.

The restaurant owner went to trial in May in Jefferson County District Court. A jury found him guilty of illegally possessing EBT benefits, and the judge sentenced him to 27 years. The defendant’s prior convictions also factored into his sentence. The county district attorney also charged 62 benefits recipients. The majority pleaded guilty at an earlier time and were sentenced.