Kuna Woman Pleads Guilty to Making False Statements

BOISE – Amanda Huckins, 32, of Kuna, Idaho, pleaded guilty yesterday to making false statements, U.S. Attorney Bart M. Davis announced. Huckins was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boise in March 2017.

According to court records, Huckins made misrepresentations to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW).  As a result of her misrepresentations from October 2010 through July 2015, she was overpaid $24,570.61 in Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) benefits and a separate amount in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

In 2013, the IDHW registered a daycare that was purportedly owned and operated by Huckins’ husband.  On February 5, 2015, Huckins willfully and deliberately represented herself as her spouse on an application to allow the daycare to receive benefits funded by the United States Department of Agriculture.  As a result of her signature on agreements, benefits were paid to the daycare.

The charge of making false statement is punishable by up to five years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for January 30, 2018, in front of Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise. 

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

 SNAP is a United States Department of Agriculture food assistance program that is administered by the IDHW.  ICCP is funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services to provide child care assistance and it is also administered by the IDHW.