From the U.S Attorney
CHICAGO GROCERY STORE OWNER SENTENCED TO THREE AND A HALF YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR FRAUDULENTLY REDEEMING SNAP AND WIC BENEFITS
CHICAGO — The owner of a Chicago grocery store has been sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison for fraudulently redeeming millions of dollars in benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (“WIC”).
YOUSEF ABU ALHAWA owned a grocery store in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
From 2011 to 2019, Alhawa fraudulently redeemed or caused to redeem SNAP and WIC benefits for non-eligible items or cash, and redeemed SNAP and WIC benefits on behalf of stores ineligible to participate in SNAP and WIC.
Alhawa admitted in a plea agreement with the government that he caused a loss to those programs of more than $8.3 million.
Alhawa, 50, of Lockport, Ill., pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and tax charges.
The tax offenses pertained to Alhawa’s filing of false income tax returns for the calendar years 2015 to 2017.
The tax offenses caused a federal and state tax loss of more than $610,000.
On Aug. 20, 2025, U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger imposed the 42-month prison sentence and ordered Alhawa to pay $8.9 million in restitution to the U.S. Treasury, IRS, and State of Illinois.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Ramsey E. Covington, Special Agent-in-Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in Chicago, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General.
“Defendant’s offense conduct was serious,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Mower argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “SNAP is the nation’s largest federally funded nutrition assistance program. His actions not only deprived those programs of vital financial resources that could otherwise have been made available to deserving recipients, but also risked sowing general disfavor and distrust of government benefit systems.”
