A federal judge ordered Almahde H. Nijmeh, 65, of Swansea, to restitution and a prison sentence of five years. He’s also set to receive two years of supervised release. According to court documents, Nijmeh had been disqualified from the SNAP program previously, but he regained admittance by reapplying and using names of different family members. Documents indicate that Nijmeh used the East Side Meat Market in East St. Louis to accept SNAP cards loaded with benefits in exchange for cash and other ineligible items from August 2017 through November 2021. Nijmeh was found to have put the property and the SNAP license in the names of other family members, even though he was considered the de facto owner and operator of the business. Court documents revealed that Nijmeh and his employees routinely bought SNAP cards in exchange for cash equal to 50% or less of the benefits. They also accepted SNAP benefits for ineligible items like alcohol and tobacco products, sometimes up charging customers for the illegal transactions.  In total, the scheme acquired $1,239,546.79. food stamps, snap benefits,  Almahde H. Nijmeh, snap program, united states southern district of illinois