Posted on 12/15/2012 3:54:21 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Man in $3.8M food stamp fraud case sentenced
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Al-Idu Al-Gaheem to one year and one day in prison for his role in a scheme that bilked $3.8 million from the federal food stamp program.
Al-Gaheem, the former owner of two Dayton View businesses and the imam of Masjid At-Taqwa mosque, was the second of four defendants to be sentenced in the case. All four defendants have pleaded guilty.
Al-Gaheem faced as many as four years in prison after he pleaded guilty in August to felony charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, food stamp trafficking and structuring transactions to avoid reporting requirements.
Al-Gaheem, who previously was named Lawrence Phillips, was the owner of Five Pillars Market, 1263 W. Riverview Ave., and Riverview Cell & Cup of Dreams, 512 N. Broadway St.
Al-Gaheem worked and conspired with Abdul Yamini Sr., Abdul Qadir and Omar Yahya to defraud the food-assistance program. The men illegally paid customers 50 cents in cash for every $1 in food stamp benefits they redeemed.
Undercover law enforcement agents caught the defendants illegally trading cash for food stamp benefits and buying and selling products that are ineligible through the program, such as counterfeit clothing and firearms.
Authorities estimate that more than 1,000 transactions took place at Five Pillars Market that involved the illegal exchange of food benefits. The federal government deposited about $3.8 million into bank accounts controlled by Al-Gaheem and others as reimbursement for food benefits redeemed at Five Pillars.
Al-Gaheem repeatedly withdrew large amounts of cash from the bank account, but he always took out sums that were just less than the threshold that requires the filing of federal financial reports.
Al-Gaheem and the other defendants used the money they stole to renovate the Dayton View businesses and pay for personal expenses, such as rent, mortgage and other bills, said assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight Keller.
Keller urged Judge Timothy S. Black to give Al-Gaheem the maximum prison sentence to deter him from breaking the law in the future and also to send a message that this criminal activity will not be tolerated.
“Mr. Al-Gaheem is arguably the most culpable” defendant in the case, Keller said.
Al-Gaheem’s attorney James Fleisher argued that justice would best be served by placing his client on probation or house arrest, because Al-Gaheem is an important part of his community and some family members depend on him for caregiving and financial support.
Judge Black said although Al-Gaheem had an “extraordinarily impressive” record of good deeds and charitable actions, he could not ignore his role in the criminal enterprise by only giving him “a slap on the wrist.”
Black sentenced Al-Gaheem to the same prison term that he handed down to Qadir in November.
In addition to prison, Black also ordered Al-Gaheem to be placed on three years of community control after his release.
Al-Gaheem and the other co-defendants in the case will be ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution to the federal government, even though authorities doubt that they can even come close to paying back the money they stole.
Yamini is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. Yahya is scheduled to be sentenced in late February.
The scammer imam gets 366 days in a low-security federal prison camp ... so much for punishment and deterrence
selling products that are ineligible through the program, such as counterfeit clothing and firearms.
Firearms and he only gets a year?
Something not right here.
3.8 Million only gets you one year??? Damn, I would do that, where do I sign up?
Yep. What a joke. We don’t want to upset the religion of peace members, do we? $3.8m fraud and 1 year in the slammer. Well, I guess we may get some justice if he meets a problem in prison, if you know what I mean. Pi$$, and $hit be upon him.
Where do I sign up for the one year tour?
You can bet if I scammed half that amount, they’d throw away the key and I’d never see the light of day again. But then, I’m not muslim.
Crime paid for this Mooooooooslim
I always said if I was going to get in a scrap, it was going to be over millions, not a few bucks here and there. From the looks of this, this clown got in 3.8 million scraps, and it looks like crime REALLY does pay.
I was at BJs wholesale club today and a vendor was selling fudge at a kiosk inside the store. On each corner of the glass case was a big sign that said EBT.
I was not happy.
Owner of The Five Pillars Market.
Funny !
.
Is it legal to put a muslim lawbreaker in jail under Chairman Obamao’s empire? /sac
The guy won’t do more than 10 months. Under federal law, any sentence over one year entitles the defendant to federal good time. If he’d received one year, he’d do 365. Since the judge gave him a year and a day, he’ll only do 311.
Yeah, send him to prison so he can teach others to game the system.
Also, hardcore leftists LIKE when stuff like this happens. They think it’s modern day Robin Hood.
Disgusting criminal. Only 1 year and won’t pay ever pay restitution. The judge is a criminal.
Given the birth name, I suspect he’s a Muslim of convenience.
Thanks DogByte6RER.
Four years max for a $4million fraud? I could try that!
I am assuming that the fed never got the money back...
If this was a Christian or Jewish leader you can be sure that the headline would have said : Minister or Pastor or Rabbi
So typical... the islamic cleric could plead he was falling the 1400 yr old caravan robber named “mohamed”, a man of perfect pattern of human conduct!
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