NORWAY — A Norway woman was issued as summons for a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits scam known as water dumping after a recent investigation by police and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Linda T. Goodman, 57, has been charged with unlawful trafficking in SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) benefits, a Class D misdemeanor, according Assistant District Attorney Joseph O’Connor, who is prosecuting the case.
“She was accompanied by a guy but it was her (EBT) card so we didn’t know if we could really (prosecute him). We figured we could just go with the person who had the card,” O’Connor said Wednesday morning. “They bought a case (of water), didn’t even unscrew the caps and just left it in the case and dumped it out.”
Rather than unscrewing the caps, the pair poked holes in the top to let the water out, Norway Detective Gary Hill previously said. The water bottles were then brought to a redemption center for the cash deposit.
Goodman purchased between $130 and $150 in cases of water to get roughly $38 back in the bottle return, O’Connor said.
If convicted of the crime, Goodman will lose her SNAP benefits for one year. A second offense and conviction would result in loss of benefits for two years and a third offense and conviction would result in a lifetime loss of benefits, DHHS Director of Media Relations and Policy Research David Sorenson previously said.
“We want to discourage this. It’s taxpayers’ money. … Hopefully it will be a deterrent,” O’Connor said about the possible loss of benefits.
A court date for Goodman hasn’t been set yet.
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