Gwinnett Man, Brother, Plead Guilty of Food Stamp Scheme

A Gwinnett County man and his brother pleaded guilty to federal charges that they unlawfully purchased WIC vouchers and SNAP debit cards for personal gain, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta said.

Rodney Byrd, 39, of Lawrenceville, Ga., and Reginald Byrd, 38, of College Park, Ga., pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit food stamp fraud by using their stores in metro Atlanta to unlawfully purchase over $5.7 million in vouchers from the Georgia Women, Infants and Children Program and debit cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

• RELATED: Brothers Arraigned on WIC, SNAP Fraud at Atlanta Stores

Rodney Byrd owned and operated several Atlanta-area stores named “Tweet Baby Tweet,” “Chicos and Chicas Variety Store,” and “Tweets, Treats, and Nic Nacs.” Reginald Boyd managed at least one of the stores.

Prosecutors say the men told employees to make cash payments to customers in return for WIC vouchers and for the use of their SNAP debit cards. The cash payments were less than face value, allowing the men to profit when exchanging the vouchers.

The scheme resulted in an estimated loss of $5,747,817.18 to the government, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Many of the thousands of WIC vouchers deposited into bank accounts held by Rodney Byrd were for prescribed infant formula for undernourished or formula-sensitive infants, prosecutors said.

“These defendants stole from a program designed to provide nutritional items to needy members of our community,” Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release. “The scheme induced customers to forego infant formula and other necessary products in exchange for cash at less than face value of the vouchers. They put their own financial profit above the physical needs of low-income mothers and children.”

Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 24. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. before United States District Judge Leigh Martin May.