PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - The former owner of a Providence convenience store who masterminded a more than $1 million food stamp fraud scheme has been sentenced to about 2 ½ years in prison.
Federal prosecutors say 46-year-old Sami Almuhtaseb was also sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to repay the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program more than $1.1 million.
Almuhtaseb was originally sentenced to intermittent confinement, which would have allowed him to continue to run the Oasis Market. But he sold the business and failed to inform the court, leading to revocation of intermittent confinement.
Prosecutors say from 2009 until 2015, the store redeemed $2.7 million in SNAP benefits, but more than $1 million of that was fraudulent.
Authorities say Almuhtaseb used the fraudulently obtained money to gamble, buy real estate and pay for entertainment.
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