Nine Louisiana Residents Sentenced After Fraudulently

Receiving DCFS Benefits

BATON ROUGE Nine Louisiana residents have been convicted of receiving more than
$62,000 in eligible benefits after an investigation by the Louisiana Department of Children and
Family Services (DCFS) Fraud and Recovery Unit.
Gwen Bailey of Bastrop was sentenced in the 4th Judicial District Court to five years supervised
probation after illegally obtaining $15, 609 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) benefits. Bailey received these benefits by misrepresenting her household composition
and was ordered to make full restitution to the State of Louisiana. This was Baileys third
violation of SNAP regulations and has since been permanently disqualified from participating in
the program.
Rachel Brown DArmond of Denham Springs illegally obtained $13, 223 in SNAP benefits and
was sentenced in the 21st Judicial Court to five years in the Department of Corrections, which
was suspended. She was placed on five years of probation on the condition she pay fees, court
costs and make restitution in the amount to DCFS. DArmond received these benefits after
failing to report her childs father as a household member and concealed his income.
Jessica Vernon of Winnsboro plead guilty to illegally obtaining $11,582 in SNAP benefits after
Vernon failed to report her husband as a household member and his earnings from employment.
Vernon was sentenced in the 5th Judicial District Court to five years hard labor, which was
suspended, and placed on five years of supervised probation on the condition she pay a fine,
court costs and make restitution to the DCFS.
Brian Maxfield of St. Landry Parish pled guilty to theft greater than $1,000 after concealing his
income to receive eligible SNAP benefits. Maxfield was sentenced in the St. Landry District
Court to 24 months of supervised probation, ordered to pay a supervision fee of $60 per month,
$11 to the state police for maintenance of the sex offender registry and make restitution to DCFS
in the amount of $5,466.
Kemmitha Gipson of Minden was sentenced in the 26th Judicial District Court after pleading
guilty to illegally obtaining $5,273 in SNAP benefits by misrepresenting her households
income. Gipson was sentenced to three years of active probation with conditions to pay a $500
file and make full restitution to DCFS.
Beth Jordan of Winnsboro illegally obtained $3,243 in SNAP benefits after concealing her true
household income by failing to report her husbands earnings from employment. Jordan was
sentenced in the 5th Judicial District Court to five years of supervised probation on the condition
she pay a fine, court costs and make restitution to the DCFS, Economic Stability Section.
Dorothy Allen of St. Charles Parish was sentenced in the 29th Judicial District Court after

obtaining $2,982 in ineligible SNAP benefits after claiming a child in her certification that
resided in another state. Allen was ordered to pay restitution to DCFS, court fines of $400, given
a 2 year suspended sentence and 2 years active probation.
Jennifer Williams of Mangham was sentenced in the 5th Judicial District Court to one year
supervised probation after illegally obtaining $2,953 in SNAP benefits and Family Independence
Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP) benefits. Williams received these benefits by
concealing her employment and was ordered to make full restitution to the State of Louisiana.
Andria Mitchell of Alexandria pled guilty to obtaining $2,248 in ineligible SNAP benefits after
concealing her earnings. Through the 9th Judicial District Court, Mitchell was placed on five
years of supervised probation, ordered to pay a $500 fine, court costs of $484.50 and restitution
of $2,248 to the DCFS.
"DCFS has zero tolerance for those who obtain benefits under false pretenses," said DCFS
Secretary Suzy Sonnier. "We encourage anyone who suspects someone is committing DCFS
benefits fraud to report their suspicions immediately by calling our toll free number or by
reporting the fraud online."
Individuals are encouraged to report cases of suspected fraud in SNAP, FITAP, Child Care
Assistance Program (CCAP) or the Kinship Care Subsidiary Program (KCSP) by calling the
DCFS toll-free hot line at 1-888-LAHELP-U (1-888-524-3578) and selecting option seven from
the main menu or by visiting www.dcfs.la.gov/reportfraud.
DCFS uses a number of tools to identify potential fraud of benefits, including cross matching
information with federal and other state agencies and its award-winning Geographic Information
System technology.
DCFS seeks to recover ineligible benefits from individuals who receive them due to fraud or
error by intercepting federal income tax refunds, withholding eligible benefits through
recoupment or through administrative or court ordered repayment.
###