Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that five people have been charged in connection with what prosecutors describe as an organized scheme to defraud Florida’s Electronic Benefit Transfer program.
According to Uthmeier’s office, the defendants are accused of using stolen EBT card information and personal identification information to buy products that could easily be resold for cash, including Monster and Red Bull energy drinks, coffee, bottled water and other items. Authorities said the alleged scheme took place in Orange and Seminole counties.
“Florida is not going to tolerate organized schemes that steal taxpayer-funded benefits intended for Florida families,” Uthmeier said. “We will continue to work alongside our law enforcement partners to identify every individual connected to this scheme and hold them accountable.”
The five defendants charged in the case are Carlos Ruben Gomez Jimenez, Maite Lazara Mesa Labrada, Carlos Luis Diaz Jimenez, Enrique Gonzalez and Luis Gonzalez Dominguez. According to immigration records cited by the Attorney General’s Office, Gomez Jimenez and Mesa Labrada entered the United States illegally in 2024.
All five defendants face charges of organized scheme to defraud involving less than $20,000 and public assistance fraud involving $200 or more but less than $20,000.
Gomez Jimenez, Mesa Labrada and Diaz Jimenez are also charged with criminal use of personal identification information involving EBT accounts of 10 or more people. Dominguez is charged with criminal use of personal identification information, while Diaz Jimenez and Gonzalez are charged with dealing in stolen property.
If convicted, Diaz Jimenez faces up to 40 years in the Florida Department of Corrections. Gomez Jimenez, Gonzalez and Mesa Labrada each face up to 25 years, while Dominguez faces up to 15 years.
Diaz Jimenez, Mesa Labrada and Gomez Jimenez also face three-year mandatory minimum sentences tied to the criminal use of personal identification information charges involving 10 or more victims.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Additional charges may be filed as the case progresses.
The case is being investigated by the Orlando Police Department and the Office of Statewide Prosecution. It is being prosecuted by Special Counsel for Public Assistance Fraud Scott Strauss in Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit.
