The gravy train has officially stopped for a second employee involved in an organized scheme to defraud customers at a local Popeyes drive-thru. Following a seven-month investigation, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office (FCSO) has arrested the alleged "mastermind" behind the operation, which reportedly involved charging customer credit cards to fund an inmate boyfriend's commissary account.
On October 15, Shaunta Johnson, 42, of Palm Coast, was taken into custody on multiple felony charges, including organized scheme to defraud and three counts each of fraudulent use of a credit card and unlawful use of a two-way communication device. Johnson is currently being held without bond at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility.
Detectives determined that Johnson and her coworker, Chaniqua Richberg, 49, both allegedly engaged in fraudulent charges while working the drive-thru. According to the FCSO, Johnson orchestrated the scheme specifically to make commissary payments to her boyfriend, an inmate at Apalachee Correctional Institution.
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Richberg, who was previously arrested in April on related fraud charges and is currently out on bond, was convicted of fraud in an unrelated case in Pennsylvania. Johnson, meanwhile, boasts a lengthy criminal history that includes prior arrests for fraud, cocaine sales, and operating a childcare facility without a license.
Sheriff Rick Staly praised his team's diligence.
"Thanks to the cooperation of the new owners of Popeyes, we were able to put the missing pieces together and arrest the mastermind in this case, in addition to her associate, and hold them both accountable for their crimes," said Sheriff Staly. "While they won't be joining 'friends' who are already locked up in a prison cell, they are on a fast track to sleeping in a prison cell."
The investigation, led by the FCSO General Assignment Unit, concludes with both suspects facing charges for turning the popular fast-food lane into a crime scene.
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