14th guilty plea entered in meal fraud

A Pine Bluff man on Friday became the 14th person to plead guilty, and the 16th person to be charged, in an Arkansas scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Care Feeding Program.

Elbert Harris, 57, pleaded guilty — in advance of possible indictment by a federal grand jury — to a wire fraud charge, admitting he stole more than $1 million intended to feed children in low-income areas.

Harris admitted that between 2012 and 2015, he was a sponsor for a feeding program through Great Faith Ministries, which had feeding locations in Pine Bluff, Altheimer and Wabbaseka.

Harris operated 14 feeding sites and falsely claimed that he had served up to 175 children at some of the sites, which was a greatly exaggerated number, according to acting U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris.

Through 44 claims, Elbert Harris received $1,390,961.05 in federal funds through the Arkansas Department of Human Services, which administers the USDA-funded program in Arkansas, Harris said. All of the funds received are considered illegally obtained if any of them are used for fraudulent purposes.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker accepted Harris’ guilty plea Friday afternoon and will sentence him at a later date, after a pre-sentence investigation is completed.

The Child and Adult Care Feeding Program includes an at-risk, after-school component. Employees of the state agency review applications from would-be sponsors, and after an applicant is approved, the applicant can seek reimbursement for the eligible meals they serve.

Two former employees of the agency, Tonique Hatton of North Little Rock and Gladys Elise Waits, also known as Gladys Elise King of England, are now serving nine-year prison terms after admitting they were the “gatekeepers” who approved sponsors, knowing they intended to defraud the program, in return for kickbacks.

Both women are among others who have been sentenced and are required to repay varying amounts of money to the