A federal judge has sentenced former nonprofit executive Connie Bobo to 16 years in prison, concluding a fraud case drained $19.7 million from a program intended to feed low-income Missouri children. U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig also ordered Bobo to repay the full amount.
Bobo, 46, of St. Charles, led New Heights Community Resource Center, which received public reimbursement funds to provide meals to school-age children after school and during the summer. Federal prosecutors said she built the scheme from the beginning, using false enrollment materials to get the organization into the program and then filing hundreds of bogus reimbursement claims over a period that stretched from 2019 through 2022.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the fraud accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many children who depended on school for regular meals were especially vulnerable. Trial evidence showed Bobo collected $19.7 million in reimbursement money but spent only $6.8 million on food and milk. Prosecutors said the entire sum was fraudulently obtained because her entry into the program itself was based on deceit.
Instead of using the money for its intended purpose, prosecutors said, Bobo diverted millions into real estate, luxury purchases and benefits for people close to her. The Justice Department said the spending included a new home for herself, homes for relatives, a $200,000 Mercedes-Benz G550 Wagon for her boyfriend and a $2.2 million commercial real estate investment. Authorities said the home, the vehicle and four additional properties have been seized.
“Connie Bobo’s trial clearly showed that this was the largest public assistance and pandemic fraud in state history,” U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus said in a Justice Department press release. “Hungry children were turned away when Bobo’s distribution events ran out of food, all because she was spending public money on luxury goods, real estate and an extravagant vehicle.”
The government said Bobo did not simply siphon money away from a children’s nutrition program, but also tried to conceal what she had done once scrutiny intensified. Prosecutors said she created fake board members, fake bylaws and fake training records as part of the nonprofit’s enrollment paperwork.
Later, after learning of the FBI investigation, she produced fictitious food invoices and attendance logs listing children who did not exist, according to the sentencing memorandum summarized in the press release. Prosecutors also said she lied on the witness stand during her trial.
A jury convicted Bobo in October on three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and two counts of obstruction of an official proceeding after a three-day trial, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In the same press release, FBI St. Louis Special Agent in Charge Chris Crocker framed the case as a betrayal not only of taxpayers, but of children whose meals were supposed to come first.
“Connie Bobo’s greed is beyond reprehensible. She stole millions of dollars meant to feed low-income children in our community,” Crocker said. “Instead of helping hungry kids, she used that money to buy a $1 million home, a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, and four additional properties — all of which the FBI has now seized. Those stolen funds from a taxpayer-funded program could have provided meals for children across Missouri.”
The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Derek Wiseman and Jonathan Clow prosecuted it.