Sarasota convenience store owner pleads guilty

SARASOTA — Carlos Chavez, partial owner of Sarasota convenience store Las Americas Latin Market, pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft of government funds in a food-stamp fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Robert E. O'Neill announced in a statement. Chavez faces up to 10 years in prison.

Chavez, 46, who operated the store located at 560 N. Washington Blvd., conducted numerous illegal “cash-back” transactions with food-stamp recipients between February 2010 and March 2012, according to the plea agreement. Retailers that participate in the federal food stamp program, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), are not allowed to take SNAP benefits and give recipients cash.

According to the statement, Chavez provided food stamp recipients with cash in exchange for their benefits, and collected a 25% to 50% fee of the overall transaction for doing so. For example, Chavez would charge a SNAP card for $100, then give $50 in cash to the recipient. Chavez would then receive the $100 benefit for the SNAP charge from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Chavez' illegal transactions cost the department $735,886 in SNAP benefits, the release says.

The numerous suspicious SNAP transactions at Las Americas led law enforcement to discover the illegal practice. According to the release, between Feb. 1, 2012 and March 1, 2012, the store's SNAP redemptions exceeded state and national averages by 1,300%.