Judge denies bond for influencer in SNAP fraud case

With our Joyce Lupiani, digital content creator, for a check of the stories that are trending right now on Fox5Atlanta.com and the Fox local app. Hey, Joyce. Hey, Tyler. So the first story I have for you is one we've been talking about for a couple of days, and we have a bit of an update. A judge has denied bond for an Atlanta influencer known as Shawty Dredd, whose real name is Mercedes New. Dredd is facing more than 60 federal charges in an alleged $4 million food assistance fraud scheme. And our reporter, Christopher King, had a chance on Thursday to talk to U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg about the case, and this is what he had to say. What's really heinous about all of this is you're talking about hard-earned money that American workers give to the government for the purpose of providing for social good. And this particular program isn't just about helping people out who are struggling trying to get a job or helping people out who need a medical procedure. This is about helping families put food on the table for their children. And he took that money out of the program and put it in his own pocket. That's why this is so disgusting. So Tyler, I listened to this entire thing. Christopher actually talked to him for like several minutes and he was definitely riled up about this. I also checked out the Instagram for Shawty Dredd and there's like tons of photos on there that show him just like with stacks of cash and luxury cars and fancy houses and like traveling to Las Vegas. I mean, this guy, he got away with this for like several years. But right now, he is sitting in Irwin County Detention Center. And we will try to follow this case and bring any more updates that we get on it. Yeah, I certainly think a lot of people might be interested in hearing about this. I know a lot of people are talking about it online, especially because he is a name, an influencer. A lot of people know him from social media. So certainly a case will continue to follow.