Southern Meat Market Proprietor Indicted on Federal Food Stamp Fraud, Theft and Conspiracy Charges

Memphis, TN – On January 11, 2018, a federal grand jury charged one defendant with defrauding the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program ("SNAP"), formerly known as the food stamp program. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant announced the indictment today.

According to the indictment, from at least January 2015 through April 2017, Guy Randal Stockard, 59, a/k/a/ "Randy," owned and operated Southern Meat Market, a small retail meat market in Memphis, Tennessee. Southern Meat Market was authorized to accept federal SNAP benefits from customers as payment for eligible food items. Customers could access and redeem their benefits using Electronic Benefits Transfer ("EBT") cards.

During that same period, Stockard allegedly used Southern Meat Market to conduct fraudulent SNAP benefit transactions with an estimated total value of at least $1.2 million. To carry out the fraud, Stockard bought customers’ SNAP benefits at a discount in exchange for cash. Stockard then redeemed those SNAP benefits at their full monetary face value.

Stockard is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit SNAP benefit fraud and theft of government property, one count of SNAP benefit fraud, and one count of theft of government property.

If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum of 20 years imprisonment, a $250,00 fine and 3 years supervised release. The United States is also seeking criminal forfeiture in this case.

This case is being investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture - Office of the Inspector General and the United States Secret Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Murre Foster is prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.

The charges and allegations in this indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is innocent unless and until proven guilty.