By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — An arrest warrant has been issued for a 25-year-old Cushing woman accused of fraudulently obtaining $8,899 worth of food stamps by make false representations that four juveniles were current members of her household when they were not, court documents allege.
If convicted of food stamp fraud in excess of $500 between February of 2021 and November of 2024, Colista Ann Randall could be fined $5,000 and imprisoned for two years, according to the felony charge filed by Payne County Assistant District Attorney Sean Webb on March 27.
An investigation began on June 25, 2024, when the Oklahoma Department of Human Services Office of the Inspector General “received a referral from an anonymous source” that Randall was claiming a juvenile as a household member on her SNAP benefits when in fact he was not, Agent Marshall Green alleged in an affidavit.
“The United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, is a federal agency responsible for administrating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program,” which is administered in Oklahoma by DHS, the affidavit said.
“Through the course of the investigation, it was discovered Ms. Randall has also been claiming (three other juveniles) as part of her household when in fact they are not,” the affidavit alleged.
“Colista Randall submitted 11 DHS applications from January 2021 through October 2024 and included some or all of the above-mentioned juveniles,” the affidavit alleged.
During a Nov. 7, 2024, interview with Randall at the Payne County Courthouse, Agent Green obtained information that one juvenile had not stayed with her in the last four or five years and that the other three juveniles were removed from Randall’s care about two years ago and have not returned to her care since then, the affidavit alleged.
