A Sangamon County grand jury indicted a Jacksonville couple Thursday for allegedly scamming their way to $60,000 in food stamps.
Our reporting partners at WICS ABC Newschannel 20 report 37-year-old Terry Kingery and 32-year-old Amber Graham are now being charged with state benefits fraud and theft, accused of misrepresenting personal information like marital status in order to get benefits they otherwise wouldn’t qualify for.
Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser tells Channel 20 reporters this isn’t a victimless crime, noting that when the state is scammed out of thousands of dollars, they can’t just replace that money, so there is less SNAP money to go around for people who play by the rules.
“There are people out there who need these funds, who depend on these funds, and they should receive them,” Milhiser says. “And it’s because of people such as this who are fraudulently putting down information, and receiving that information. These cases will be prosecuted.”
Milhiser says attempts to scam the SNAP benefits or food stamp program are unfortunately very common, but the inspector general’s office is on the lookout and is able to stop most cases.
Terry Kingery runs Kingery Construction on West Walnut Street in Jacksonville, according to the business website.
Kingery and Graham face up to seven years in prison. Their next court date is April 25.