When the administrative case grows a prosecutor.
Most SNAP cases stay administrative. The ones that don’t usually announce themselves the same way - agents from the USDA Office of Inspector General at the store, a grand jury subpoena for records, a seizure of the bank account the EBT deposits land in. From that point there are two proceedings running on one set of facts, and the administrative response you file becomes a document in the criminal file. Both have to be handled by the same counsel, in the same strategy.
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.
Trafficking is rarely charged alone.
Two proceedings, one set of facts, one strategy.
The most expensive mistake in these cases is filing an administrative response written as if no prosecutor will ever read it. Everything is coordinated, or the two cases are used against each other.
Speak with counsel todayFour rules, starting the moment agents appear.
USDA OIG · 18 U.S.C. 1343
OWNER DEFENSE
UPDATED 2026
When a SNAP case becomes a federal prosecution
The administrative and criminal tracks in SNAP enforcement look separate and are not. FNS decides whether a store keeps its authorization. The USDA Office of Inspector General, working with a United States Attorney’s Office, decides whether anyone is prosecuted. They share facts, and they frequently share the file - which means the response an owner writes to a charge letter can end up as an exhibit in a case that didn’t exist when the letter was answered.
What draws criminal attention is scale and structure: large trafficking volumes, several stores under common control, recruiters bringing cardholders in, and cash movements that look organized. The first sign is rarely a charge. It’s agents at the counter asking friendly questions, a grand jury subpoena for two years of records, or a seizure of the account the EBT settlements land in - which can stop a business faster than any disqualification.
The charges themselves are usually stacked. Unauthorized use, transfer, acquisition or possession of benefits is criminal under 7 U.S.C. 2024. Because EBT transactions move electronically, prosecutors add wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. 1343, with a twenty-year statutory maximum per count. Where more than one participant is involved, conspiracy follows, and each defendant answers for the scheme’s aggregate numbers. Money laundering counts appear where proceeds moved through accounts. Forfeiture travels with all of it.
The number is the fight. Sentencing exposure in fraud cases tracks the loss amount, and the government’s opening position is often the store’s entire SNAP redemption volume across the review period rather than the portion actually attributable to trafficking. Separating legitimate grocery sales from the alleged conduct - with invoices, inventory and transaction analysis - is frequently worth more than any other single piece of work in the case.
Two consequences deserve early attention. For non-citizen owners, a fraud conviction can be a removable offense, and that reality has to shape the plea analysis from the first conversation rather than after a guilty plea is entered. And the administrative case doesn’t pause: response and review deadlines keep running, and the civil money penalty option is still lost on day eleven whether or not a prosecutor is involved.
If OIG agents have been to your store, or a subpoena or seizure notice has arrived, stop and call. Don’t explain, don’t organize the files, and don’t let employees be interviewed without counsel in place.
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.