A Cameron Park business owner will spend the next several years behind bars and must pay $2.5 million dollars in restitution.
Parviz Sheikh Rezaei appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville on Tuesday morning.
Judge Hanen sentenced 56-year-old Rezaei to three years and 10 months in federal prison for trading food stamps in exchange for cash at his supermarket.
Hanen also ordered Rezaei to also pay $2.5 million dollars in restitution.
The Iranian-born businessman pleaded guilty last year to a multi-million dollar food stamp fraud case/
According to court records, where he traded food stamps for cash at his Pariz Dollar Supermarket in Cameron Park.
Food stamp recipients would go to his store and charge their lone star cards.
Rezaei then would give them back reduced amounts of cash keeping some for himself.
U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents busted Rezaei in an undercover investigation.
Two of the employees at the supermarket were arrested with Rezaei back in April 2011 but charges against them were later dropped.
Rezaei’s store has since closed its doors.
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