OCALA — A 29-year-old Tavares man has pleaded guilty to stealing $73,655.27 in federal food-assistance benefits after filing 650 fraudulent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program applications in other people’s names, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced.

Jose Valles Villamizar faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment on the theft of government funds charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 2 years’ imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. As part of his plea, Villamizar agreed to forfeit $73,655.27 traceable as proceeds of his criminal conduct. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, between September 2023 and February 2025, 650 SNAP applications were submitted in the names of various individuals — all listing residential and mailing addresses associated with Villamizar. Once the applications were approved, SNAP benefits were issued under the applicants’ names through Electronic Benefit Transfer cards. The U.S. Department of Agriculture subsequently obtained surveillance footage of Villamizar personally using the EBT cards issued in other people’s names.

SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a USDA program “established by the United States government to help low-income individuals and families by providing monthly benefits to purchase food items.” The scale of Villamizar’s scheme — 650 applications over roughly 17 months — represents a sustained assault on a program designed for Americans in genuine need.

The case was investigated by the USDA Office of Inspector General, the Florida Department of Children and Families, and the Florida Division of Public Assistance Fraud. Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson is prosecuting the case in the Middle District of Florida.

The prosecution comes as the Department of Justice ramps up federal benefits-fraud enforcement. The department announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division on April 7. “The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people,” the department said. The division supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to root out fraud, waste and abuse within federal benefit programs.

Villamizar’s sentencing in federal court in Ocala will be scheduled at a later date.