Former St. Louis-area nonprofit director Connie Bobo ordered to prison after record Missouri child-meal fraud

A federal case centered on child nutrition reimbursements

A former St. Louis-area nonprofit executive convicted of siphoning millions of dollars from a child nutrition reimbursement program has been ordered to serve a federal prison sentence, closing a case prosecutors described as the largest program fraud in Missouri history.

Connie Bobo, of St. Charles County, led New Heights Community Resource Center, a Bridgeton-based nonprofit that participated in federally funded meal programs designed to provide food to low-income children after school and during the summer months. The funding flowed through the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, which administers the applicable federal child nutrition reimbursements in the state.

What a jury found

A federal jury convicted Bobo of multiple felonies tied to a scheme that presented inflated meal counts and other documentation to obtain reimbursements for meals that were not supported by corresponding food purchases. In a separate set of allegations proved at trial, jurors also found that Bobo attempted to interfere with the investigation by obstructing an official proceeding.

In a U.S. Department of Justice summary of the case, trial evidence showed Bobo stole $19.7 million from a program intended to feed vulnerable children in Missouri. The same summary identified the offenses of conviction as three counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and two counts of obstruction of an official proceeding.

• Wire fraud and obstruction offenses carry potential penalties of up to 20 years in prison per count under federal law.
• Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year prison term that must run consecutive to other sentences.

The program claims at the center of the prosecution

The indictment filed earlier in the case alleged that, between February 2019 and March 2022, New Heights submitted reimbursement claims asserting it had served nearly six million meals. The indictment also alleged the organization purchased enough food and milk for fewer than three million meals during that period, creating a gap between claims and documented food procurement.

The case focused on whether federal reimbursements meant for children’s meals were obtained through false representations and whether steps were taken to conceal the conduct once scrutiny increased.

What comes next

Beyond incarceration, the case has included financial recovery measures typical of major fraud prosecutions, including restitution and forfeiture actions aimed at returning funds to victims and government programs where permitted by law.

The conviction adds to a growing list of federal prosecutions tied to pandemic-era and post-pandemic oversight pressures on publicly funded assistance programs. In Missouri, the New Heights case stands out for its scale, its connection to child nutrition reimbursements, and the jury’s findings on obstruction-related conduct.