Woman Racks up $26,000 in Fraudulent Wisconsin Food Share Benefits; Faces Charges

RACINE COUNTY — A Racine woman faces prison time after authorities say she defrauded the state out of more than $26,000 in Wisconsin food stamp benefits.

According to her criminal complaint Tijuana S. Starks, 42, faces two felony fraud charges and could face up to 10 years behind bars if she is convicted.

According to authorities, Starks applied for benefits from the Wisconsin Food Shares program first in 2010, and then in 2011, listing her two children as household members, her marital status as separated and did not list any income on her applications.

Her complaint states that she continued to file re-applications every six months thereafter, claiming that her household consisted of she and her two sons, and that there had not been a change of income for the household through Oct. 2015. She continued to list her marital status as separated and never liste her husband as a household member, or as having an income, according to the complaint.

What investigators found, however, was a different story.

According to police, Starks lived her husband and two children for all but 6-7 months of the entire benefit period, and that he worked at CNH the entire time.

According to her complaint, Starks told investigators that "she just wanted to get a repayment plan for the benefits she received."

According to her complaint, the total amount of benefits received by Starks, based on her fraudulent application and failing to report her husband's income on re-applications amounted to $26,302.

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