Brendyn Andrew, a 34-year-old resident of Gaithersburg, Maryland, has pleaded guilty in federal court to multiple charges including SNAP benefits fraud, aggravated identity theft, passport fraud, and witness tampering. The plea was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, alongside officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
Andrew was initially indicted by a grand jury in February 2025 on charges related to identity theft and misuse of government programs. A superseding indictment in May 2025 added further charges such as possession of unauthorized access devices and additional counts of witness tampering. Dominique Collins, 38, from Stafford, Virginia, was also named as a co-defendant for witness tampering and is scheduled for trial in April 2026.
According to court documents and Andrew’s plea agreement, between February and June 2021 he used the Maryland Department of Human Services’ online system to apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits using identities that did not belong to him. He obtained electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards under these false identities.
During an October 2022 search warrant execution, law enforcement found Andrew with more than 15 EBT cards issued in other people’s names. In February 2024 he applied for a United States passport using another person’s identity and social security number without authorization. While detained at Chesapeake Detention Facility in March 2025 on earlier charges, Andrew contacted Collins by phone and asked her to delete an email account so it could not be used as evidence.
Andrew faces significant penalties: a mandatory minimum sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft (to run consecutively with any other prison term), up to five years each for SNAP fraud and social security number misuse, up to ten years each for theft of government property and possession of unauthorized access devices, up to fifteen years for passport fraud, and up to twenty years for witness tampering.
U.S. Attorney Hayes thanked the USDA-OIG and DSS for their investigative work as well as the Montgomery County Police Department for its assistance. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kertisha Dixon is prosecuting the case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office or resources related to reporting fraud, visit www.justice.gov/usao-md or https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.
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