U. S. Accuses Man, Woman of Running Food Stamp Scheme : Indictment: Phony stores were set up to make redemptions in the alleged $2.1-million fraud. It was the biggest of its type in Los Angeles, officials say.

Two South-Central Los Angeles residents have been indicted in a $2.1-million food stamp scam that federal authorities said was the largest of its type ever in the city.

A 30-count indictment unsealed Monday accuses Mikloth Brown, 32, and Aji Ashley, 33, of setting up phony stores to redeem food stamps acquired on the black market.

The alleged scheme began in October, 1986, according to the indictment, when Brown and Ashley obtained authorization from the U. S. Department of Agriculture to participate in the federal food stamp program at the Survival Co-Op, 4313 W. 60th St.

They obtained a second authorization to participate in the program at the Nations Market, 4705 S. Western Ave., in September, 1989, according to the indictment.

However, Assistant U. S. Atty. Charles I. Kreindler said that Survival Co-Op was a residence and that the Nations Market, which occasionally had sold food, has sold only hubcaps since March.

Kreindler said Brown and Ashley sent out runners to buy food stamps from their rightful recipients at 50% to 80% of their cash value. Brown and Ashley then purchased the coupons from the runners, who received a commission. The defendants then received full cash value for the coupons from the government, the indictment said.

Kreindler said the $2.1 million in food stamps the pair acquired netted them between $350,000 and $1 million.

The federal food stamp program is designed to help the nation’s poor, who obtain the coupons from county government offices. Recipients may exchange the coupons for non-taxable food items, such as milk and butter, at authorized retailers.

Ashley was arrested on Aug. 22, one day after the sealed indictment was returned by a federal grand jury. She has been released on $25,000 bail and pleaded not guilty Monday.

Brown was turned over to federal authorities Monday by local authorities who had been holding him on unrelated vandalism charges, Kreindler said. U. S. Magistrate-Judge George H. King ordered Brown detained without bail until he is arraigned on Oct. 9.

If convicted on all counts, Ashley and Brown face up to 150 years and 140 years in prison, respectively.

Brown’s lawyer, Cornell Price, said he had just gotten the case Monday and did not know enough about it yet to comment. The Times was unable to reach Ashley’s lawyer.

U. S. Atty. Lourdes G. Baird said in a statement that an indictment is merely a formal charge and not proof of a crime.