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ALLINONE employee receives probation in food stamp scam
HUNTINGTON -- An employee convicted in the ALLINONE food stamp scam will serve probation, according to court documents filed U.S. District Court.
Cynthia Gibson received her punishment Monday from U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers. He ordered Gibson to serve 3 years probation and pay $19,350 in restitution, an amount prosecutors said is equal to her involvement, according to court documents.
Gibson had pleaded guilty in July to having conspired with others in a scheme that illegally redeemed $127,000 in benefits from the nation's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as the food stamp program. It operated out of The ALLINONE Store, a convenience store owned by codefendant Abderahmane Eloirzazi and managed by fellow codefendant Stephanie Pauley.
Eloirzazi's awaits sentencing as his guilty plea included an agreement to hand over the property, located at 1954 9th Ave., to the city of Huntington. Authorities hope that transaction rids the Fairfield neighborhood of a longtime public nuisance that attracted drugs and violence.
Gibson signed an agreement with prosecutors stating her actions traded government benefits for cash, beer and cigarettes. She worked at the store on two occasions from July 2010 to February 2012, when the store was shut down and arrests were made.
At a hearing last month, Pauley received 4 years probation and orders to pay restitution.
