Jail Time, Probation for Welfare Fraud 

Vanessa Ann Woods, a 41-year-old Lunenburg woman of 6236 Poorhouse Road, was recently sentenced to six months in jail for failure to abide by her rules of probation on a 2014 conviction in Lunenburg Circuit Court on one felony count of Welfare Fraud by False Application and one felony count of Welfare Fraud by False Statements.

According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Clement, Woods failed to make monthly payments on restitution to the Department of Social Services, owing a balance of

$568 out of a total of $718, failed to do any of her community service, tested positive for cocaine in October and December, and failed to participate in a substance abuse class.

After her release from jail, she will be on supervised probation, must still complete 50 hours of community service, must repay the restitution, and cannot apply for welfare benefits for herself for at least ten years.

Woods’ offenses involved selling her EBT card for cash, and failing to report income from a job for about one and a half years.

Before she was charged, Woods was receiving $668 per month for most of the months in SNAP benefits (formerly food stamps) from October, 2012 to March, 2014.