Overview
- Federal prosecutors say Antonio Bonheur and Saul Alisme were arrested and each charged with one count of food stamp fraud, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
- The alleged scheme operated out of Jesula Variety Store and Saul Mache Mixe Store, two very small shops sharing one Blue Hill Avenue storefront in Mattapan with little food inventory and a single register.
- Transaction data cited in charging documents show monthly SNAP redemptions regularly over $100,000 and at times reaching $500,000, far above a nearby full‑service supermarket’s roughly $80,000–$82,000 in monthly redemptions.
- Undercover operations documented four cash‑for‑benefits exchanges at Jesula and two at Saul Mache Mixe, with investigators also observing liquor-for-benefits sales and customers leaving without groceries after large transactions.
- Prosecutors also allege sales of donated MannaPack meals and the use of secondary bank accounts to move SNAP proceeds, as a public dispute unfolded over oversight between U.S. Attorney Leah Foley and Gov. Maura Healey’s office.