Pennsylvania EBT Coordinator Accused of Trading $20K of Stolen Cards for Crack Cocaine, Other Goods

A woman in Pennsylvania is facing charges after allegedly using her position with the county to steal $20,500 in food assistance benefits that she exchanged for drugs and items at stores around town.

Sheila McDonald of Pittsburgh worked as the EBT coordinator at the Lehigh County Assistance Office when, according to a Tuesday, October 20 report in the Lehigh Daily News, a person complained about not getting their card. However, an investigation determined that the card had been activated and used. It didn’t take long before the trail led back to McDonald, 46, who had access to both the card and the person’s personal information to activate it.

Upon further investigation, the outlet reported that she’d allegedly carried out the same scheme with up to 48 cards some 270 times, valuing a total $20,558.61 (or $438 per card) in stolen money.

Fox 56 reported that an unidentified man told investigators that McDonald had traded him EBT cards and their PINs in exchange for crack cocaine. He reportedly said he assumed she obtained the cards through her job with the county.

The outlet reported that she was charged with unlawful taking, theft by deception, access device fraud, receiving stolen property and two counts of criminal conspiracy. Additionally, she was immediately suspended from her position with the Department of Human Services and her access to the systems that allowed her to commit the alleged offenses was revoked. The affected households are being issued replacement cards.

As of now, Fox 56 reported that she has not been arraigned and there is no publicly available date for her preliminary hearing.