Woman ordered to pay $52,000 restitution for food-stamp fraud

A Senath, Missouri, woman was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty in March to a fraud charge involving her misuse of food-stamp benefits.

According to the U.S. attorney's office Eastern District of Missouri, Pamela O'Dell was sentenced to five years of probation and four months of home confinement and ordered to pay restitution of about $52,000.

According to court documents, O'Dell was employed as an eligibility specialist by the Missouri Department of Social Services, Family Support Division, in Dunklin County.

She was responsible for processing applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps. O'Dell also was responsible for updating SNAP recipients' files with address changes and if their eligibility for the program was terminated.

Authorities said between 2009 and 2014, when SNAP applicants and recipients reported to the state they no longer wished to receive benefits, O'Dell changed their addresses to the Family Support Division office in Dunklin County, which issued a new Electronic Benefits Transfer card using her information.

She converted the EBT cards to her personal use.

O'Dell was indicted in January.

The case was investigated by the Missouri Department of Social Services, Division of Legal Services and the United States Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General-Investigations.