BEAUMONT, Texas — Another person tied to the food stamp fraud case involving a Beaumont restaurant has been sentenced after entering a guilty plea on Monday morning.
Khristie T. Carrier was sentenced to 10 years probation after pleading guilty to illegal transfer of food stamps. She's not the first person to be sentenced in the case.
Paula Annice Alemestica was sentenced in September to a five-year probated prison sentence and was ordered to pay restitution and do community service.
Pleshette Carrington was also sentenced to 10 years in prison. Her sentence was also probated.
Carrier was arrested, along with dozens of others, after investigators searched Coleman's Burger Deli in Beaumont based on information from the Texas Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
Restaurant owner Johnny Ray Coleman, along with 61 other people, have been indicted on fraud charges in the case. He's accused of buying the food stamps from individuals to help purchase $71,000 in food for his deli.
The 62 people are accused of electronic benefits transfer fraud, Jefferson County District Attorney's Office spokesperson Leanne Winfrey said in a previous news release.
The DA's office called it "a scheme involving the fraudulent use of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits" wherein $71,000 worth of food were sold at a Beaumont restaurant.
Investigators discovered over 300 purchases from over 92 different EBT cards from over 61 SNAP recipients, totaling over $71,000 of food used at the restaurant, based on evidence seized, District Attorney Bob Wortham previously told 12News.
Coleman allegedly used a personal debit card to pay the rest of the bill when there were still funds on the EBT accounts.
The restaurant purchased large amounts of hamburger meat, chicken wings, pork chops, French fries, hamburger buns, shrimp, drinks and condiments, the DA's office said in the release. Investigators found that all of the items were also part of the menu at Coleman's Deli.
Wortham told 12News Coleman hasn't gone to trial yet as of October 26, 2020.
