A Pine Bluff man on Friday became the 14th person to plead guilty, and the 16th person to be charged, in an Arkansas scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Child and Adult Care Feeding Program.
Elbert Harris, 57, pleaded guilty -- in advance of possible indictment by a federal grand jury -- to a wire fraud charge, admitting he stole more than $1 million intended to feed children in low-income areas.
Harris admitted that between 2012 and 2015, he was a sponsor for a feeding program through Great Faith Ministries, which had feeding locations in Pine Bluff, Altheimer and Wabbaseka.
Harris operated 14 feeding sites and falsely claimed that he had served up to 175 children at some of the sites, which was a greatly exaggerated number, according to acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris.
Through 44 claims, Elbert Harris received $1,390,961.05 in federal funds through the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which administers the USDA-funded program in Arkansas, Harris said. All of the funds received are considered illegally obtained if any of them are used for fraudulent purposes.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker accepted Harris' guilty plea Friday afternoon and will sentence him at a later date, after a pre-sentence investigation is completed.
The Child and Adult Care Feeding Program includes an at-risk, after-school component. Employees of the state agency review applications from would-be sponsors, and after an applicant is approved, the applicant can seek reimbursement for the eligible meals they serve.
Two former employees of the agency, Tonique Hatton of North Little Rock and Gladys Elise Waits, also known as Gladys Elise King of England, are now serving nine-year prison terms after admitting they were the "gatekeepers" who approved sponsors, knowing they intended to defraud the program, in return for kickbacks.
Both women are among others who have been sentenced and are required to repay varying amounts of money to the USDA.
Last month, a Bryant woman became the 11th person to be sentenced in the ongoing case, which altogether has resulted in the theft of more than $11 million, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Two of the 16 people charged in the case went to trial in April and are now awaiting sentencing on their jury convictions. They are Jacqueline Mills, 41, of Helena-West Helena, who was convicted of one count of wire fraud conspiracy, 25 counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of bribery and three counts of money laundering, and Anthony Waits, 38, of England, formerly of North Little Rock, who was convicted of wire-fraud conspiracy.
Waits is set for sentencing before U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. at 1 p.m. Oct. 19. Mills recently obtained a new attorney, and her sentencing hearing has not yet been rescheduled.
The state Department of Human Services was recently admonished by Arkansas Legislative Audit for failing to develop internal controls, being behind in compliance reviews and not requiring receipts for reimbursement claims. The department has said changes have been made to strengthen its oversight of the federally funded program.
The U.S. attorney's office asks that anyone aware of any fraudulent activity regarding the food programs email the information to [email protected].
Metro on 10/07/2017