$4.6 million food stamp fraud scheme: Atlanta rapper busted
Mercedes New, 39, better known as “Shawty Dred,” is accused of creating more than 350 fraudulent food stamp accounts using STOLEN identities between January 2020 and July 2026.
Prosecutors say he had hundreds of EBT cards mailed to different addresses around Atlanta, then sold them for cash or processed them through his own company, Shawty Dred LLC, which he registered as a SNAP retailer.
Between January 2020 and July 2026, New allegedly controlled more than 350 fake SNAP accounts, which were created using stolen identities.
Between April 2024 and November 2025, New allegedly used fraudulently obtained EBT debit cards and “a point-of-sale device associated with Shawty Dred LLC” to steal more than $660,000 in SNAP benefits.
Officers reportedly seized 14 EBT debit cards from New, which had been issued to other people. New then allegedly had replacement cards mailed to his store address and other addresses in the Atlanta area.
Investigators said the scheme diverted $4.6 million in SNAP funds. The EBT debit cards were used to siphon around $4 million from the accounts.
Meanwhile, New flaunted private vets, fancy cars and stacks of cash to his millions of followers on TikTok and Instagram, as he denounced others as “broke motherf****s,” prosecutors said.
On Oct. 7, a federal grand jury indicted New, 39, 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
