On April 14, 2010, the Honorable Judge Stephen Drew sentenced Anita Flores, 55 of Visalia, to two years in state prison. Flores pled no contest on January 13, 2010 to one count of welfare fraud and one count of perjury, both felonies arising from her receipt of aid by misrepresentation. The defendant was also ordered to pay back the defrauded money plus 10% interest per annum in restitution to the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA). The defendant was immediately remanded into custody.

The investigation uncovered that, between September 1999 and February 2004, the defendant fraudulently received cash aid and food stamps for herself and her family. She failed to report in her initial and subsequent applications for aid that she had a disqualifying felony drug conviction. She also failed to report to the Tulare County HHSA that she resided in and was employed in Orange County, California during the time she was receiving aid from Tulare County. Flores also failed to report that she had a prior welfare fraud conviction. The total fraud amounted to $12,717.00.

This case was investigated by Maribel Reynosa of the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigations and prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Marisa Maclennan.

Contact Person: Assistant District Attorney, Shani D. Jenkins, (559) 733-6411.