Donora business owner, former council member charged in alleged food stamp scheme
Investigators allege a former Donora councilman illegally traded cash for customers’ food stamps at the convenience store he owns in the Mon Valley borough.
State police charged Jimmie B. Coulter, 63, of McKean Avenue on Friday with four felony counts related to the alleged scheme, during which authorities said there were fraudulent food stamp transactions totaling $2,677.
State police first learned in early August of “several questionable transactions” involving the debit-type cards used to make purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to a previously sealed grand jury presentment handed down last month.
That information came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which also provided state police with a history of SNAP transactions at Ondray’s, the Allen Avenue store Coulter owns.
Police said an informant told a state trooper Coulter would pay 50 cents on the dollar for food stamps, keeping the difference for himself. The informant allegedly got $50 in cash for $100 in food stamps when making a purchase at the store in late September.
An undercover trooper allegedly made transactions – involving a total of $210 in food stamps for half that amount in cash – at the store on three different occasions.
Early in the investigation, a trooper interviewed “seven to eight individuals” who reportedly said they’d sold their food stamps to Coulter. Four more were interviewed following the execution of a search warrant at the store.
Investigators said Coulter spoke to them when they executed the warrant. He allegedly admitted to exchanging small amounts of cash for food stamps, but only once or twice.
“He denied engaging in this illegal activity on a regular basis and denied providing large sums of cash,” according to the presentment.
Reached Friday afternoon, Coulter referred questions to his attorney, Steve Toprani.
“At this point in time, he’s aware of the allegations and is disputing them,” Toprani said.
Toprani also described his client’s business as “one of the few places that Donora residents can go and get the items they need without travel and expense.”
Coulter served one term on Donora Council, from 2013 to 2017.