An Atlanta social media personality known online as Shawty Dred is facing federal charges after prosecutors accused her of siphoning more than $4 million meant to feed poor Georgia families through a scheme built on fake SNAP accounts and fraudulent debit cards. Mercedes Reshard New was arrested on October 13, 2026, and taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals Service on federal charges alleging theft of millions of dollars in SNAP benefits through fraudulent accounts, prosecutors say.
A federal grand jury indicted New on 46 counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count each of SNAP fraud and illegal transactions with access devices, according to the Department of Justice. The Justice Department's case is described as a $4 million SNAP fraud scheme tied to New, who is also known online as Shawty Dred. As reported by CBS News Atlanta, investigators say New controlled more than 350 SNAP accounts created with false identities between 2020 and 2026, and had EBT debit cards mailed to multiple addresses around metro Atlanta.
How the Alleged Scheme Operated
According to CBS News Atlanta, New applied for Shawty Dred LLC to become an authorized SNAP retailer, an authorization that allowed use of SNAP cards for purchases. The USDA revoked Shawty Dred LLC's SNAP retailer authorization in 2025. Local police arrested New shortly after that revocation, prosecutors say, and officers seized 14 EBT debit cards from New in the process. New then requested replacement EBT cards after the seizure, the outlet reported.
Federal prosecutors said New tricked the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services into providing around $4.6 million in SNAP benefits, while separately, federal prosecutors said New siphoned $4 million from SNAP benefit accounts. Prosecutors say New flaunted private jet travel and luxury vehicles on social media while the scheme was ongoing, and allegedly referred to other people as “broke motherf****s” online, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutor's Statement on the Case
Theodore S. Hertzberg said New allegedly stole over $4 million meant for poor families who need help putting food on the table. Hertzberg also said his office is committed to rooting out SNAP abuses and holding accountable people profiting from taxpayer money intended to feed vulnerable Americans.
A Broader Pattern of Benefits Fraud in Georgia
The case lands amid a wider reckoning over SNAP fraud across Georgia. The state's Benefit Integrity and Recovery Unit discovered more than $15.8 million in TANF and SNAP overpayments due to fraud during state fiscal years 2025 and 2026, according to the Georgia Department of Human Services, which notes that all fraudulent disbursements must be repaid.
Separately, Georgia reported roughly $4.4 million in stolen SNAP benefits for 2024, though for the first quarter of 2025 the state reported nearly $23 million stolen — one of several figures contributing to the $136 million in stolen SNAP benefits states reported nationwide during that quarter, according to Atlanta News First. The USDA estimates SNAP fraud nationally may total as much as $12 billion a year, and has said reported figures likely understate the true scope of the problem.
The same report notes that cyberattacks on retailers' point-of-sale systems are increasingly complicating fraud detection, and that synthetic identities are being used at what the USDA calls an alarming rate. During a two-day enforcement operation in metro Atlanta and Columbus, investigators confiscated dozens of skimming machines from grocery stores and gas stations, Atlanta News First reported.
The scale of the allegations against New echoes other large federal SNAP fraud cases. In 2015, the Justice Department charged 54 defendants in an $18 million WIC and food-stamp fraud conspiracy.
