A local caterer who lied to the state to get food stamp assistance will serve no jail time, but is responsible for paying back the money she received.
The woman, Joy Elaine Tubb, entered guilty pleas before Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley to three counts of fraudulent receipt of food assistance. She was granted a four-year judicial diversion as part of her plea bargain. The judicial diversion means she will be on probation for four years but at the end of that term, as long as she gets into no more trouble and goes by the rules of her probation, she can have her criminal record erased.
In addition to the diversion, Tubb was ordered to pay back the $19,682 she stole from the state by making her fraudulent claims on her application for food stamps. She will also have to perform 50 hours public service work and has been prohibited from applying for food stamp assistance for six years.
Tubb entered pleas to three of the 12 felony counts against her. The remaining counts were dismissed as part of the deal. Her probation will be dependent on her paying back the money and performing her public service work.
Tubb was charged after the Department of Human Services uncovered the fraud she had been perpetrating for four years, beginning in 2010 and continuing until 2013.
“She did knowingly obtain by means of willfully false statement, temporary assistance for a dependent child by either check or electronic benefits,” said DHS agent James Barry.
The false statement was actually an omission on her application for benefits. She did not include her husband’s income in her paperwork. The omission of his income allowed her to drop below the poverty line and get food stamps. Tubb had no comment about the charges.