Three county women have been charged with illegally receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

Felony fraud charges against Melissa Kasarda, 30, of Valencia; Ester Claypoole, 49, of Hilliard; and Christina Rokoski, 32, of Seven Fields have been filed by investigators from the Office of the State Inspector General in the court of District Judge William Fullerton in Butler.

According to charging documents issued June 30, Kasarda failed to report her wages earned from Gibsonia Spine Sport and Health to the Butler County Department of Human Services on an application she submitted Oct. 30, 2019.

“Melissa Kasarda knowingly withheld information from Butler DHS to fraudulently obtain $1,493 in SNAP benefits that her household was not eligible from July 1, 2019 continuing through Jan. 31, 2020,” said the investigator in the affidavit.

Charges were also filed June 30 against Claypoole, who investigators said failed to report another household member's wages.

Investigators said a household member was receiving income from Apparel Technology Solutions that was not reported, and it would have made the household ineligible for the $1,650 worth of SNAP benefits gained from Aug. 1, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2018.

“Esther Claypoole signed the rights and responsibility statements acknowledging she understood her rights and responsibility to report true, correct and complete information,” the investigator said.

A third woman, Rokoski, was charged July 6 for allegedly receiving about $717 worth of illegally obtained SNAP benefits, but in another stretch, she received more than $4,500 in fraudulently claimed medical assistance benefits.

According to investigators, Rokoski received SNAP benefits from Nov. 1, 2018 through Jan. 31, 2019, and received medical assistance from Oct. 1, 2018 to Feb. 28, 2019.

“Christina M. Rokoski's mandatory household member was receiving wages from Dive Pittsburgh in Allegheny County,” the investigator said.

Rokoski has been charged with two counts of felony fraud. Both Claypoole and Kasarda have been charge with only one count each.

Preliminary hearings in all three cases have yet to be scheduled.

According to its website, between May 1, 2018 and April 30, 2019, the Office of the State Inspector General received 14,590 complaints and conducted 2,465 field investigations, all of which resulted in about $7.4 million in costs avoided.