West Boca Couple Charged With Hatching Food Stamp Sales Scheme From Jail

Erica Rosenstein, 36, and Wesley Brown, 31. (Photos: Palm Beach County Jail)

While public assistance scams are dominating the national political conversation, court documents filed this week in Palm Beach County provide rare insight into how a West Boca couple allegedly hatched a deal – partially from jail – to sell food stamps for cash, using a combination smartphone shopping apps and money transfer services.

What began with a shoplifting arrest and a welfare check on a 10-year-old child eventually led investigators into a tangled web of jailhouse phone conversations, negotiations on the outside with acquaintances interested in purchasing the food stamps, personal budgeting to project how much money would be left before “refills,” and how taxpayer-funded benefits can be turned into spending money. Local sheriff’s deputies ultimately partnered with federal investigators to confirm the details on who was involved, with charges coming nearly a year after the prove kicked off.

The couple, Erica Rosenstein, 36, and Wesley Brown, 31, have both been freed on bond, though Rosenstein was additionally charged this week with resisting arrest after officers had to kick in her front door after she hid from a team executing a warrant. She was ultimately found hiding in a bedroom.

The saga began when Rosenstein was arrested at the Target store on U.S. 441 (SR-7) in unincorporated Boca Raton on Jan. 1, 2025. A loss prevention officer at the store told police he witnessed her taking “various items” from shelves and placing them in a large bag before leaving without paying for the $270 of merchandise. Rosenstein initially told the loss prevention officer that her 10-year-old son was in a vehicle in the parking lot, which was found to be untrue by police. She then told a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy that the child was no longer in the car, but she had called her boyfriend – later identified as Brown – to pick him up. The child was not on the property at all, and Rosenstein is alleged to have recanted her story admitting as much.

After all of the confusion, deputies decided that a welfare check on the child was appropriate, at which point they learned an unrelated warrant was out for Brown’s arrest. The child was ultimately deemed safe, and Brown was taken into custody on the outstanding warrant. Brown was released, however Rosenstein remained in jail by the time she allegedly placed a Jan. 14 phone call to Brown from a recorded line at the county’s main detention center.

During the conversation, “Brown states that he is having issues moneywise with paying the rent for their apartment,” the court documents state, with Brown then stating, “I’m gonna sell some whatcha-ma-call-it to Danny.” Investigators later alleged that the “whatcha-ma-call-it” was food stamp funds on an active EBT benefits card, and “Danny” was likely a co-worker.

“I’m worried about getting my money up,” Brown allegedly said in the call. “And, and that will help me do a lot of things if I do that, know what I’m saying? There’s $1,200 on there right now, almost $1,300.”

Rosenstein allegedly replied: “Yeah. Oh shit, and then we get more again on the third,” referring to Feb. 3, 2025, when EBT card funds would be replenished by the state.

The recorded phone call is then alleged to have delved into the details of exactly how much benefits funding would be sold for cash, how much would be left in the account, with Brown indicating he wanted to keep some funds for “snacks” and Rosenstein reserving $200 to place food orders once she was released from jail. Ultimately, the alleged plan was to sell $600 worth of food stamp funds for $300 in cash.

Two more phone calls the same day are alleged to have referenced the impending sale of benefits funding. Brown, by the time a call was placed at 8:10 p.m., said he had been in contact with “Danny.”

“I texted him, like sent him a picture of the food stamp card, I told him the pin,” Brown allegedly said on the recording. “I was like yo, freaking, you did that on Instacart last time right? He’s (Danny) like yeah. I’m like are you gonna send the bread? He’s [Danny] like I got you. My girl [Danny’s girl] is [going to] order in the next five minutes. Say less. Then he texted me back Zelle or Cash App, let me know, I’m done.”

In short, the couple’s plan, according to the court filings, was to sell access to the EBT card, allow the buyer to access funds to buy food through Instacart – which accepts EBT payments through its merchants, such as Publix – and then transfer cash to the seller using the smartphone bank transfer apps Zelle or Cash App.

Receipts obtained by law enforcement backed up the amounts referenced in the conversation, investigators claimed, including a confirmation on the jail phone line.

“So he didn’t even spend the full $600 and still gave me $305,” Brown allegedly said to Rosenstein, explaining that he offered to repeat the deal the next month. Rosenstein then allegedly replied: “Cool. That’s good for so many reasons. Like, you have extra money now, and now you know, you opened that door for him and you to have a relationship still again.”

The remainder of the phone call continues to detail how benefits money will be spent, with Brown anticipating that even after a future $400 food order, the card would have “a stack” after replenishment. A “stack” is a slang term referencing $1,000.

The case was eventually turned over to an agent with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office USDA Task Force, which investigates benefits fraud. The task force agent, working with the investigating deputy, was able to obtain federal data to back up the assertions in the phone conversation. The deputy then obtained warrants to confirm various account information from the app vendors and IP addresses from internet service providers. He also obtained receipts from Publix and Aldi that totaled $606.85, in line with the alleged deal to sell $600 in benefits for $300. The food was delivered to the home of an associate of the person identified as “Danny,” the court filing states.

Both Brown and Rosenstein were charged with transferring or selling public assistance funds over $200, a third degree felony. Brown was released on $5,000 bail and Rosenstein was released on $5,000 bail for the fraud charge and an additional $1,000 bail for the resisting charge.