Federal prosecutors say more than 500 Georgia EBT cards are linked to Mercedes New, the Atlanta rapper and social media influencer known as Shawty Dred, in a food stamp case with an estimated $4.4 million in intended loss. New, 39, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 7 and arrested in Las Vegas on October 13. The charges are SNAP fraud, mail fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.
What the Georgia indictment counts
The Justice Department’s fraud-surge announcement puts the card count at more than 500 and the estimated fraud loss at $4.4 million in stolen benefits. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta frames the money a little differently. It says New allegedly obtained more than $4 million, after Georgia’s Division of Family and Children Services sent about $4.6 million to accounts it calls fraudulent.
Prosecutors list 46 counts of mail fraud, 15 of aggravated identity theft, one of SNAP fraud and one of illegal transactions with access devices. They say more than 350 fraudulent SNAP accounts were opened with stolen identities between January 2020 and July 2026. The cards for those accounts were allegedly mailed to various addresses around metro Atlanta…