Section 121.151  Penalties for Intentional Violations of the Program

a)         Persons found to have intentionally violated the Food Stamp Program, as set forth in Section 121.153(a), are disqualified as specified by a court decision or for:

1)         12 months for the first violation;

2)         24 months for the second violation; and

3)         permanently for the third violation.

b)         A person is permanently disqualified if he or she is convicted of trafficking food stamp benefits of $500 or more.

c)         A person is disqualified from receiving food stamps for ten years when an Administrative Disqualification Hearing or a federal or State court convicts him or her of making a false statement or representation about his or her identity or residence in order to receive  more than one food stamp issuance at the same time.

d)         If the person is currently participating in the Food Stamp Program, disqualification begins no later than the second fiscal month (defined at 89 Ill. Adm. Code 101.20) after the month of the hearing decision.  Once the period of disqualification is imposed, it continues regardless of the eligibility of the disqualified member's household.

e)         If the person is not participating in the Food Stamp Program, the disqualification begins the month after the month of the hearing decision.

f)         If the individual intentionally failed to report income, the earned income deduction is not applied to that portion of income the individual failed to report (not the entire amount of earned income) when calculating the overpayment amount.

(Source:  Amended at 26 Ill. Reg. 16484, effective October 25, 2002)