WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wayne County man has been sentenced in federal court for his role in a scheme that fraudulently diverted more than $102,000 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits intended for eligible North Carolina families.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II sentenced Deshaune White to six months in federal prison, followed by six months of home confinement and three years of supervised release. White was also ordered to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $102,733.80, representing the amount he unlawfully obtained.
According to federal prosecutors, White abused his position as a Lenoir County Department of Social Services caseworker to access the SNAP accounts of qualified recipients without authorization. Investigators said he used his privileged access to convert $102,733.80 in government benefits for his own personal use.
The SNAP program is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and managed in North Carolina by the Department of Health and Human Services and local county departments of social services.
The case is one of several highlighted following the Department of Justice’s April 7 announcement creating the National Fraud Enforcement Division, which is tasked with investigating and prosecuting the theft and misuse of taxpayer-funded benefits.
“We are proud to prosecute this case as a part of the President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle. “This office will continue to hold accountable anyone who defrauds any of our taxpayer-funded programs. This SNAP benefits fraudster is now a felon and will have to pay back his ill-gotten gains. Hopefully, he has learned the lesson – Cheaters. Never. Win.”
USDA Inspector General John Walk said White’s actions represented a serious abuse of public trust.
“It is an unconscionable betrayal of the public trust for a county employee responsible for administering federal food assistance to needy North Carolinian families to exploit his privileged access to recipient information to steal from those in need for his personal gain,” Walk said. “USDA OIG will relentlessly pursue insider threats who try to abuse their position for profit.”
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
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