A St. Louis woman has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison after authorities say she siphoned $2.3 million from a state program intended to feed low-income children, spending the money on homes, vehicles, and a lavish lifestyle while the nonprofit she ran reported many more meals than it actually served.
This week, U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel handed down a 41-month prison term to Cymone McClellan, 33, of St. Louis, after prosecutors say she fraudulently obtained $2.3 million in meal reimbursements. The court also ordered forfeiture of property purchased with those funds and repayment of the remaining money she took from the program.
McClellan ran a nonprofit called Sister of Lavender Rose (S.O.L.R.) and, according to prosecutors, submitted false reimbursement claims to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services from January 2019 through June 2022. Terra Davis, now 44, served as McClellan’s second-in-command at S.O.L.R. and was implicated in aiding the scheme.
From the start of the state enrollment in 2019, McClellan allegedly put false management plans on file that named a finance director as the check signer and oversight person even though that person was not actually a signer on S.O.L.R.’s accounts. That deceptive paperwork, prosecutors say, was part of a broader plan to hide how meal program dollars were being used.
“These lies demonstrate that Defendant McClellan made a calculated effort from the beginning of her participation in the state’s meal program to enrich herself at the expense of hungry children in our community,” a sentencing memo filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman says. The memo paints a picture of sustained deception rather than a one-off mistake.
Investigators allege McClellan and Davis submitted reimbursement claims for 860,876 meals that S.O.L.R. claimed to have provided, while the nonprofit purchased food and milk for fewer than a quarter of those meals. Prosecutors also say McClellan presented dozens of bogus attendance sheets to DHSS to support the false claims.
Federal officials highlighted the timing of the fraud, noting it accelerated after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted regular in-person audits and the state allowed drive-thru meal distribution by nonprofits. Those policy changes, intended to preserve access to food during an emergency, were exploited by this scheme, according to the sentencing documents.
U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus said the theft did more than drain program dollars: “Cymone McClellan caused lasting damage to the program meant to feed hungry Missouri children, not only by stealing $2.3 million that should have gone to student meals but by diminishing public support and increasing cynicism through her corruption.” That decline in trust matters for future relief efforts.
Records show McClellan used meal program funds to put $60,000 down on a house in Collinsville, Illinois and to pay $86,172 toward a house in Florissant, Missouri. She is also accused of spending nearly $135,000 on five vehicles, including a 2021 Chevrolet Traverse, a 2012 Chevrolet Express G3500 van, a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Metris van, a 2012 Ford E350 box truck and a 2018 Lexus RX SUV.
Inspector General John Walk for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General said, “Fraud targeting programs designed to feed children is particularly egregious,” and described the defendant’s actions as exploiting a USDA program meant to feed low-income children during the coronavirus pandemic. The statement stresses the depravity of diverting emergency relief dollars for personal luxury purchases and praises the investigation and prosecution.
Terra Davis pleaded guilty and received five years of probation in June 2025, with an order to repay $2.3 million, while McClellan pleaded guilty in May 2025 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The FBI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman prosecuted the matter.
Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker of the FBI St. Louis Division warned that this prosecution should send a clear message: “For the second time in as many months, we are holding accountable individuals who exploited programs meant to feed children for their own personal gain,” he said, noting McClellan diverted roughly 75% of taxpayer funds entrusted to her nonprofit.
The case also comes as the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division, a push intended to beef up federal efforts to prosecute fraud. The department tied those efforts to President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance, signaling a broader federal focus on rooting out abuse of benefit programs.
