THE EVIDENCE · TEN DAYS FROM RECEIPT · 7 CFR 278.6(b)(1)
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THE EVIDENCE

Why did USDA flag my even-dollar transactions?

ALERT · EBT TRANSACTION DATA SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C. · UPDATED
THE SHORT ANSWER
Because ALERT treats repeated round amounts as a trafficking signature - the theory being that an exchange is negotiated to a number rather than rung from a basket. Customers budgeting to twenty or forty dollars produce the identical pattern.
THE DEADLINE, EVERY TIME
10
DAYS FROM RECEIPT
7 CFR 278.6(b)(1)
FNS doesn’t grant extensions. In a trafficking case the civil money penalty request has to be inside that filing or 278.6(b)(2)(iii) forecloses it permanently.
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IN BRIEF
ROUND AMOUNTS
ALERT DATA
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212 300 5196

It’s one of the most common lines in an attachment and one of the easiest to answer, provided the answer is filed inside the ten days.

The inference

A genuine grocery sale lands on an arbitrary figure - $37.42, $61.09. A negotiated exchange of benefits for cash lands on a round one, because a number was agreed first. When a store shows many transactions at exactly $20, $40 or $100, the system reads intent.

Why real customers do the same thing

Households on a fixed monthly benefit shop to a budget, out loud, at the counter: stop me at forty. Butchers work the scale to a number a customer names. Regulars buy the same staples every week and land on the same total. Stores that price staples in round figures produce round baskets by arithmetic.

How to rebut it

Itemized register data for each flagged transaction, showing an actual basket adding to that number. A short pattern analysis showing how many of your total transactions were round versus the flagged subset. Statements from regular customers describing how they shop. And where meat or produce is sold by weight, the scale tickets that tie a dollar figure to a quantity.

IT IS AN INFERENCE
No one observed an exchange - a pattern was interpreted.
BUDGETS ARE ROUND
Fixed monthly benefits produce round baskets honestly.
THE BASKET IS THE ANSWER
Itemized sales, scale tickets, customer statements.
GENERAL INFORMATION · NOT LEGAL ADVICE Speak with counsel now →
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Tell us the date on the envelope. We’ll tell you what day you’re on.
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THE BENCH

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Second generation, practicing since 1976. Your case isn’t handed to a paralegal and a template - a lawyer reads the attachment, calls your wholesaler, and drafts the response. Every client holds the senior partner’s cell number.
Spodek Law Group - the team
SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C. · NEW YORK
Todd Spodek
Todd Spodek
MANAGING PARTNER
Ralph Franco
Ralph Franco
SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C.
Jeremy Feigenbaum
Jeremy Feigenbaum
SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C.
Claire Banks
Claire Banks
SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C.
Alex Zhik
Alex Zhik
SPODEK LAW GROUP P.C.
SEND THE LETTER TO COUNSEL

Tell us what happened. Eight fields, two minutes - and a lawyer reads it today.

RISK FREE · CONFIDENTIAL · ANSWERED WITHIN 24 HOURS, GUARANTEED
Counsel reading a client file
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Today. A lawyer reads the letter and fixes your real deadline from the receipt date. You’ll know where you stand before we hang up.
Day one. If trafficking is charged, the written penalty request goes in immediately.
Days two to nine. Invoices, register data, inventory and the compliance file get assembled.
Before day ten. The response is filed, transaction by transaction, with exhibits.
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THE ASK

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.

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THE RULES BEHIND THIS ANSWER
Ten days from receipt. No extensions, for any reason. The CMP request must be in that first filing. A clerk’s conduct is attributed to the store. Unanswered transactions read as conceded. Ten more days to seek review after a determination.
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