FBI ARRESTS LENA LUNSFORD FOR SELLING FOOD STAMP BENEFITS - Lunsford's Toddler Missing Three Weeks, FBI Says Crime Has Been Committed

(10/18/2011)
A Lewis County woman Lena Lunsford, whose 3-year-old daughter has been missing for three weeks, has been charged by the FBI with selling federal food stamp benefits.

The criminal complaint was filed Monday in federal court in Clarksburg.

The complaint says Lunsford transferred a Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Program card and personal identification number to someone else in exchange for $50 cash.

The other person, who wasn't named in the complaint, was to use the EBT card to buy $114.82 in food.

Lunsford was released on personal recognizance bond and ordered to appear at a Nov. 7 hearing in Elkins.

The FBI says the charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine upon conviction.

Lunsford has a prior history of arrests.

The FBI says it is narrowing its search and reviewing video evidence from security systems in the search for Aliayah Lunsford.

The agency is now saying they consider the toddler's disappearance a crime.