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Columbia, SC (WACH)-  Four Columbia men were sentenced to jail for raking in more than $4 million in a food stamp fraud scheme.

United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated today  Xavier Roedran Pinckney, 38, and George Andrew Williams, 47, both of Columbia, were sentenced in federal court in Columbia  in a conspiracy to commit Food Stamp Fraud.  United States District Judge Margaret B. Seymour sentenced Williams to five years in jail and Pinckney to 18 months in jail.  In addition, Williams is responsible for over $1.6 million in restitution.  Judge Seymour previously sentenced Ulysses Williams, 71, to 4  months in jail, and Jamal Derwin Gaines, 24, to four years five months in jail in to five years probation, for their participation in the conspiracy.

Evidence showed Ulysses Williams owned and operated B&B Fruit and Vegetable, and George Williams owned and operated Fresh Open Air Market.  Both businesses were located in the Columbia area and were known to purchase SNAP (food stamp) benefits for cash and to allow the purchase of non-food items such as cigarettes and clothing using Electtonic Beneft Transfer cards.

Undercover operations revealed that Pinckney and Gaines manned the registers at the two stores.  Individuals would come in to buy cigarettes or other low-priced items.  Pinckney and Gaines would ring up the transactions for around $80 to $100, give the individual half and keep half.  Both Williams defendants monitored these transactions and provided the cash to hand out.

Investigators compared average monthly redemptions at the two stores to the South Carolina average.  B&B Fruit and Vegetable and Fresh Open Air Market's average monthly redemptions were around $76,000 and $94,000, respectively.  For other stores of similar size located throughout South Carolina, the average was just over $2,000 per month.

The total loss amount for the case is just over $4,000,000.