Local woman pleads guilty to food stamp fraud

A Neshoba County woman charged with food stamp fraud has entered a plea agreement.

The woman, April Long, 44, entered a plea agreement with the District Attorney in Neshoba County Circuit Court on March 4, according to Kevin Baysinger of the Investigations Division of MDHS.

Long received an overissuance of SNAP benefits between April 2017 to April 2022 by not accurately reporting household composition and income to MDHS, officials said. 

"This investigation demonstrates the controls we have in place to identify, investigate, and eliminate fraud in our programs," said MDHS Executive Director Robert G. "Bob" Anderson. "This is also a great example of cooperation between our county office, investigations team, and local law enforcement."

Long is disqualified from participating in the SNAP program for 12 consecutive months, Baysinger said. 

She has been ordered to serve a term of three years within the Pretrial Intervention Program of the Eighth Circuit Court District and is required to pay full restitution of $46,270.00.

The Investigations Division is a subset of the MDHS Office of Inspector 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 of dollars from SNAP overpayments.

Suspected fraud can be reported to MDHS online at any time by submitting the MDHS Fraud Tip Form at mdhs.ms.gov/report-fraud/ or by calling the  Fraud Tip Line at 1-(800)-299-6905, or email at fraud@mdhs.ms.gov.