|
?:reviewBody
|
-
In June 2011, an image of a grocery receipt reportedly found in the parking lot of Angeli's County Market (in the town of Menominee, Michigan) was widely circulated online, supposedly documenting a $141.78 purchase of six lobsters, two porterhouse steaks, and six 24-packs of Mountain Dew soda, with the entirety of the buy covered by food stamps: The possibility that this receipt might be real outraged many who felt that such food assistance programs should be limited to the buying of staples and necessities, and that using food stamps for such extravagances as steak and lobster (plus soda) was the equivalent of the recipient's thumbing his nose at the taxpayers who fund such programs. As it turned out, the receipt was genuine. But regardless of how dismayed many viewers might have felt about the use of food stamps for such luxury foods, the purchaser's use of a Bridge Card to buy lobster, steak and Mountain Dew did not violate any existing laws or rules. However, the purchaser (who had used his girlfriend's EBT card) didn't quite get off scot-free. He was arrested not for making disallowed purchases with food stamps, but for turning around and re-selling the foodstuffs he had bought with the stamps to someone else for 50% of their original retail price: Cuff was charged with three counts of food stamp fraud and was sentenced to 45 days in the Menominee County Jail and six months probation.
(en)
|
![[This page as RDF]](http://data.gesis.org/claimskg/static/rdf-icon.gif){kind=icon}