RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – The wife of a U.S. federal agent has been convicted and sentenced for cheating the government out of food stamps and Medicaid despite her husband’s salary.
For several years, 25-year-old Bianca Kristine Pena had been taking advantage of the government assistance programs for her children by not listing her husband Abiel Moreno as part of the household, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas show.
Pena began getting the government assistance since June 2011 and her husband joined the Department of Homeland Security in August 2011, despite his employment the family continued to receive government assistance which court records list as being between $20,000 and $100,000. The agency within the Department of Homeland Security that Moreno worked for or his title, were not listed in the court records.
After eventually discovering the fraud, prosecutors with the Starr County’s District Attorney’s Office along with the Texas Department of Health and Human Service took the evidence to a grand jury who handed out an indictment against Pena charging her with defrauding the Texas government by deception.
Pena recently went before 381st State District Judge Jose L. Garza who ordered her to pay almost $26,000 in restitution and sentenced her to a five year term of supervised release.
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