ATLANTA, Ga. — An Atlanta social media personality who shows off private jets and luxury cars to a large online following now faces federal charges that he built that lifestyle on food aid meant for low-income families.
A federal grand jury indicted Mercedes Reshard New, 39, who goes by Shawty Dred online, on Oct. 7. The Northern District of Georgia’s U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the charges Wednesday. The indictment lists 46 counts of mail fraud and 15 counts of aggravated identity theft, plus a single SNAP fraud count and a single count of illegal access device transactions. New was taken into custody Oct. 13 and is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service.
Prosecutors say that from January 2020 through July 2026, New ran more than 350 bogus accounts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, each opened with a stolen identity. Benefit cards for those accounts were mailed to addresses around metro Atlanta. His company, Shawty Dred LLC, was also registered as an approved SNAP retailer, then used the fake cards and a payment terminal tied to the business to pull more than $660,000 in benefits between April 2024 and November 2025, according to the charges.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture pulled the store’s retailer approval in November 2025. About two weeks later, local officers arrested New, accusing him of selling benefits at a store in the metro area, and took 14 cards issued to other people. Prosecutors say he then ordered replacement cards mailed to the business and to other local addresses.
In all, about $4.6 million moved into the fraudulent accounts and roughly $4 million was drained from them, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said the money was meant to help struggling families buy groceries. Agents from the FBI are investigating along with the inspector general’s office at the Department of Agriculture.
An indictment is only an accusation, and New is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Section: More Atlanta GA crime news
Filed under: Atlanta GA Crime News
