New Haven restaurant owner charged in scam to allegedly stock business with food stamp benefits

NEW HAVEN >> An owner of a Congress Avenue restaurant was arrested and charged Wednesday with illegally using government food assistance benefits that were provided to other people to purchase food for his eatery, officials said.

Miguel Pittman, 53, of 82 Orchard St., New Haven, purchased food supplies for his place of business, Pittman’s Sandra’s Next Generation, using cash that were given to individuals who received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, according to a press release from the State of Connecticut Department of Criminal Justice.

The benefits were purchased for cash at a lesser value and then redeemed at full value, the release said, and the result was to defraud SNAP of more than $5,000 for a year between February 2013 through February 2014.

Pittman is charged with first-degree larceny and one count of credit card theft, both felonies.

Pittman was released on a written promise to appear in Superior Court in Milford on Feb. 2.