YOUNGSTOWN Grand jury indicts Acme Steak owner

In 2001, the defendant was sued for nonpayment of perishable foods.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The owner of Acme Steak Co. is accused of redeeming at least $117,000 in unlawfully acquired food stamps.
A federal grand jury in Cleveland handed up a one-count indictment charging Michael A. Mike Jr., 49, of Devonshire Drive, Boardman, with conspiracy to commit food stamp trafficking.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells and is being prosecuted by Thomas J. Gruscinski, an assistant U.S. attorney.
Neither Mike or his Boardman lawyer, J. Gerald Ingram, could be reached Thursday.
Acme has two locations: 32 Bissell Ave., Youngstown, and 340 Victoria Road, Austintown.
Food stamps were permitted for purchases at the Bissell Avenue store but not at the Victoria Road site, the indictment states.
About the case
The government said that, between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 1998, Mike and unnamed others acting on his orders accepted U.S. Department of Agriculture food stamp coupons at Acme Steak on Victoria Road.
Also during that time, Mike and others accepted USDA food stamps from third-party vendors for wholesale items purchased from Acme Steak, the government said.
Of $791,284 worth of food stamps redeemed, at least $117,000 had been unlawfully acquired outside the regulations of the program, the indictment alleges.
During 1998, Mike instructed drivers for Acme to accept food stamp coupons as payment for wholesale items sold through third-party retail vendors, the government said.
The object of the conspiracy was to make money by receiving, trafficking and redeeming for value through the bank account of Acme Steak, an authorized food stamp program retail participant, food stamps that were obtained outside the regular course of business, the indictment alleges.
Investigated case
The case was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, FBI and U.S. Department of Agriculture
In October 2001, Mike reached a $14,092 settlement in Youngstown federal court with Magic Valley Fresh Frozen Inc. of McAllen, Texas.
Magic Valley filed a complaint, saying that it shipped perishable foods to Acme and was owed $15,658.
In 2002, Acme Steak lost more than $200,000 worth of food business with the Trumbull County jail when law enforcement began looking into how the informal contract had been awarded, according to Vindicator files.
Earlier this year, Acme filed for bankruptcy but expressed a desire to continue operating while working out an agreement with creditors, according to Vindicator files.
meade@vindy.com