A 22-year-old Westbrook man was convicted Thursday of conspiracy following a three-day jury trial in U.S. District Court.
“He was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to commit offenses against the United States, namely the offense of SNAP trafficking and WIC program fraud,” says Assistant U.S. Attorney James Chapman, who prosecuted the case against Abdulkareem Daham.
Chapman says Daham conspired with his older brother to pay cash in exchange for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Women, Infants, and Children benefits at their halal market in Portland.
Daham’s brother 40-year-old Ali Ratib Daham pleaded guilty in November to the scheme, which prosecutors say defrauded the government of about $1.4 million between 2011 and 2016.
The elder Daham faces a potential 20 years in prison and will be sentenced this spring.
Abdulkareem Daham will also be sentenced in the coming months. He faces a potential 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy charge.
Peter Rodway, the younger Daham’s attorney, could not be reached by airtime.
