A Santa Ana produce truck operator has been hit with federal charges after authorities say the business redeemed roughly $640,924 in SNAP benefits—far more than nearby competitors—and that pattern raised red flags for alleged trafficking.
The indictment names Esmeralda Soriano, 48, who is also known as “Esmeralda Aguilar” and “Esmeralda Silva,” and charges her with two counts of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits. She runs Soriano Produce, a mobile fruits-and-vegetables vendor authorized in March 2023 to accept Electronic Benefits Transfer SNAP payments.
Prosecutors say the truck operates with a single point-of-sale device and no scanners, and that officials flagged a steady stream of unusually large, back-to-back transactions as suspicious. Those transaction patterns, combined with high average check sizes, prompted investigators to compare Soriano Produce with other SNAP retailers in the area.
Investigators found that between April 2025 and April 2026 Soriano Produce was the largest SNAP redeemer within a 20-mile radius, with a reported total store volume of approximately $640,924. That number was more than six times that of its nearest fruit-and-vegetable competitor and produced an average purchase amount of $151.41.
Authorities also compared the mobile truck to larger grocery stores within a five-mile radius and concluded Soriano Produce redeemed the most SNAP benefits despite completing more than 9,700 fewer transactions than the closest store. The business also posted the highest average transaction size among those stores, which drew further scrutiny.
Law enforcement pointed to a string of outsized EBT-SNAP transactions for a produce vendor, including about a dozen individual transactions that reached or exceeded $1,000. Those figures are stark against the California average purchase for a fruits-and-vegetables store, which sits at $17.72.
Soriano is free on $5,000 bond and has an arraignment set for August 13 in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. If convicted, she faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count on the indictment.
In a separate federal indictment, Jesse Cervantes-Gomez, 30, also faces charges of illegal trafficking in SNAP benefits after authorities say he exchanged SNAP benefits for cash at a downtown Los Angeles store. Cervantes-Gomez was arrested July 2, is free on $5,000 bond, and has an arraignment scheduled for August 11.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. Those legal protections remain central even as investigators expand their focus on potential fraud schemes tied to benefit programs.
SNAP helps feed about 40 million people but is full of fraud, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. That concern has driven federal efforts to identify patterns that do not match legitimate retail behavior and to pursue prosecutions where evidence suggests exploitation.
Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General are handling the probe with assistance from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Jones of the General Crimes Section.
The Justice Department recently announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division to zero in on schemes that steal from federal benefit programs. Officials say that work supports a broader government push to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in assistance programs.
https://x.com/OIGUSDA/status/2085816814391439754
