Why You Might Need a Food Stamp Attorney

Food stamps is the well-known term for the government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which is part of the Department of Agriculture. This program provides monthly benefits for needy people to buy food. However, like all government programs, it has a problem with fraud. Some of that fraud is intentional while some of it is inadvertent. If you are charged with food stamp fraud, you need an experienced attorney to defend you.

Unintentional fraud

You might wonder how someone can commit fraud unintentionally, but it happens a lot. When it comes to the food stamp program, there are qualifications you have to meet that focus on income and family status. Somebody who qualifies for the program might at some point lose his or her eligibility if income increases, if the person gets married or if a child reaches adulthood or that person loses custody of a child. In these cases, the person might not know that benefits have been reduced or that he or she is no longer eligible, and the government often lags behind in updating its records, so the person could receive food stamp benefits for a time without realizing he or she isn't entitled. Someone accused in such a case needs an attorney. In such cases, the government usually will drop any fraud charges if it recovers the overpayment.

Intentional fraud

Intentional food stamp fraud can happen a number of ways. Someone might lie about his or her status to qualify for benefits. In other cases, someone who legitimately qualifies might sell benefits to someone else for cash. There are also cases where someone receives benefits meant for someone else. In these cases, the government will bring prosecution, and the person accused of fraud definitely needs a food stamp fraud attorney to try to negotiate the best deal possible and hopefully avoid jail time.

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