KINGSTON – Four Ellenville residents have entered guilty pleas to charges of criminal use of a public benefit card for using SNAP benefits to buy drugs.
Melinda Baker, 51, Melissa Quick, 39, Paula Sciancalepore, 53, and Robin Shaver, 58, all pled guilty to the misdemeanor.
The four were arrested as part of a federal-state-local joint task force investigation into a heroin distribution ring that operated in Ellenville.
During that investigation authorities learned they were cheating the food stamp system by selling their electronic benefit transfer cards, issued through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, for roughly 50 cents on the dollar and using the case to purchase heroin.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Luba Reznikova.
