Below is a press release from the Mississippi Department of Human Service:
A Pearl River County, Miss. resident who is charged with fraud following an investigation conducted by Agent Blake Edwards of the Investigations Division of the Mississippi Department of Human Service (MDHS) has entered into a plea agreement.
MDHS announced that Chrishuana Newton, 43, of Pearl RiverCounty entered into a plea agreement with the District Attorney concerning fraud before the Pearl River County Circuit Court on March 1, 2023. Newton received an over issuance of SNAP benefits between January 2017 to May 2022 by not reporting household composition and income accurately to MDHS. SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, was formerly known as the food stamp program. Newton is disqualified from participating in the SNAP program for twelve consecutive months and will serve a term of three (3) years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with one (1) year to serve in the Intensive Supervision Program (House Arrest), as well as being required to pay full restitution in the amount of $36,872.00.
The Investigations Division is a subset of the MDHS Office ofInspector General (OIG), which was created in August 2018 and charged with detecting, preventing, and deterring fraud, waste, and abuse. OIG has been responsible for recovering millions ofdollars from SNAP overpayments.
“This investigation demonstrates, once again, the controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs,” MDHS Executive Director Robert G. “Bob” Anderson said. “This is also another great example of cooperation between our county office, investigations team, and local law enforcement. We welcome and appreciate the partnership we are developing with District Attorney’s Office across the State of Mississippi.”
This case was handled by Assistant District Attorney Beau Stewart, in Pearl River County.
Suspected fraud can be reported to MDHS online any time by submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at https://www.mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/, calling the Fraud Tip Line at 1-(800)-299-6905, or email at fraud@mdhs.ms.gov.
