Four convicted food stamp scammers have been hit with a shame punishment that puts an ethnic community in Hamtramck on notice: The perps have been ordered to place an ad in a local newspaper in both English and Bengali, warning others not to steal like they did.
The defendants – four Bangladishi brothers convicted of exchanging cash, batteries and phone cards for food stamps – have to pay for the ad, which will read:
“To Readers, listen to us.
If you cheat on food stamps you are committing a federal crime and will be punished for doing so. We know: We have been punished for cheating on food stamps.”
Under the federal court order issued Thursday, the 6-by-6-inch ad will run for three weeks in the Hamtramck Review and include the names of all four defendants: Ali, Nazar, Mustak and Mohammed Ahmed. The four men are all U.S. citizens who were born in Bangladesh and immigrated here as adults.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn has said that it’s important for the defendants to let their community in Hamtramck know that there’s a price for cheating on food stamps. At a sentencing hearing, he noted that Bangladeshi residents form a substantial portion of the community of Hamtramck, with five members of the community serving on the city council.
