Illegal Migrant Allegedly Stole $150,000 In SNAP Benefits From Ohio

Illegal Migrant Allegedly Stole $150,000 In SNAP Benefits From Ohio

An illegal migrant, along with two other people has been charged with stealing more than $150,000 in SNAP benefits through a criminal enterprise

Ionut Bizga and Doina Maria Bacelan, along with a third suspect, Juan Carlos Pagan Hernandez, are facing charges in Franklin County, Ohio.

Investigators say that the trio was stealing from the program from July 2024 to March 2025, saying they used stolen SNAP benefits to buy large amounts of non-essential items, like candy, soda, Red Bull, etc at retail stores and then sold them for a profit.

Bizga – the illegal migrant – was already known to police as he got a ticket in Columbus for crashing his minivan into a city fire hydrant.

He and Bacelan were indicted by a grand jury in May for engaging in the criminal enterprise that defrauded SNAP.

Since the summer of 2023 there has been more than $17 million in stolen benefits in Ohio – leading investigators to believe that there is a larger nationwide fraud scheme.