A Haitian migrant has pleaded guilty to orchestrating a $6.7million (£5million) benefit fraud scheme through his small Boston retail store.
Antonio Bonheur, 74, operated the Jesula Variety Store, a premises measuring just 150 square feet in the Mattapan area of the city.
He reached a plea deal with the Massachusetts US Attorney's Office on charges of wire fraud and unauthorised use of benefits.
The Haitian national was running the multi-million dollar fraud scheme between February 2021 and December 2025, according to federal prosecutors.
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The scheme involved Bonheur accepting electronic benefit transfer cards from food stamp recipients who wanted to convert their benefits into cash.
He would process the full value of the benefits through his point-of-sale terminal but hand over less than the total amount to customers, keeping a portion for himself.
Thousands of such transactions took place over the four-year period, according to court filings.
The proceeds were deposited into bank accounts Bonheur had designated for his store's SNAP redemptions.
Antonio Bonheur, 74, reached a plea deal on charges of wire fraud and unauthorised use of benefits
|DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Charging documents revealed a dramatic escalation in the fraud's scale as time went on.
Monthly redemptions jumped from $6,467 (£4,832) in October 2023 to $157,937 (£118,029) by March 2024.
The figures peaked at $540,870 (£404,201) in August 2024.
Throughout 2025, monthly totals consistently exceeded $200,000 (£149,463), reaching $358,472 (£267,892) in October.
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The Haitain migrant operated the Jesula Variety Store in Boston
|Bonheur faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment for the wire fraud charge.
Additional penalties could include up to three years of supervised release, a $250,000 (£186,829) fine, and mandatory restitution.
The plea agreement acknowledges that Bonheur may face deportation as a consequence of his guilty plea.
Massachusetts US Attorney Leah Foley has agreed to recommend sentencing at the lower end of federal guidelines.
Massachusetts US Attorney Leah Foley has agreed to recommend sentencing at the lower end of federal guidelines
|GETTY
A hearing is scheduled for March 30 in a Boston court.
A second defendant, Saul Alsime, also a Haitian national, allegedly ran a separate operation from the same Mattapan location.
Mr Alsime is accused of trafficking over $121,890 (£91,090) in benefits between May and December 2025.
His case has been postponed until May.
"These men abused one of the Government's most critical safety net programs for their own financial gain," Mr Foley said when announcing the indictments.
"This is taxpayer money meant to keep people from going hungry.
"These defendants decided to take it for themselves. These defendants exchanged SNAP benefits for cash, which they pocketed."
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