Can I pay a fine instead of losing SNAP?
7 CFR 278.6(b)(1)
We owe loyalty to only you.
When you’re looking online, you have multiple options. There are so many firms advertising SNAP defense. Thankfully, your search is over. Spodek Law Group P.C. offers premier white-glove service and we’re unafraid of fighting. Unlike firms that are more focused on their relationship with the agency than with you, we owe loyalty to only YOU. Your store, your family, your license.
One reason our firm has such a high success rate is that we’re selective about who we work with. If we’re choosing to work with you, it’s because we think we can make a positive impact. That’s vastly different from firms that take on any client willing to pay. When you reach out, you start with a risk-free consultation - and you can ask us anything you want, regardless of how long it takes.
If there’s a way to keep your store in the program, we’ll find it. That’s the whole job.
Owners conflate two provisions that work very differently, and the difference decides which argument you make.
The trafficking penalty
Under 7 CFR 278.6(i), FNS may impose a civil money penalty instead of permanent disqualification where the firm timely submits substantial evidence that it had established and implemented an effective compliance policy and program. Four criteria, all four required: a written policy, that policy operating at this location before the violations, documented personnel training, and ownership not involved. The request must be in writing inside the ten days, and 278.6(b)(2)(iii) forecloses it if it’s late.
The hardship penalty
Under 278.6(f), where a term disqualification would cause hardship to participating households - the standard case being a neighborhood with no comparable store within a reasonable distance - FNS may take money rather than months. It’s a geographic and demographic showing, built from distances, transit and who actually shops with you, and it belongs in the response.
What the number looks like
The trafficking penalty is calculated from your average monthly SNAP redemptions across a period FNS selects, subject to the caps at 7 CFR 3.91(b)(3), which adjust for inflation. Busy stores reach six figures before the cap applies. Both the volume figures and the period charged are contestable, and payment is due in full within thirty days of the final determination.
When the biggest cases break, we get the call. That same team answers your ten days.
When the networks need a federal file explained in plain English, they call us.
This bench answers its own phone. Put it on your case.
Tell us what happened. Eight fields, two minutes - and a lawyer reads it today.
Read us the first line of the letter. We’ll tell you what day you’re on.
Bring the envelope, the attachment, and your invoices if you have them. If you don’t have them, bring the letter. The consultation is risk-free, it stays between us, and it happens today - ask us anything, regardless of how long it takes.