Keyshun Jones, 23, has spoken out from behind bars to explain why he stole $80,000 from a Texas Chick-fil-A through a mac-and-cheese refund scheme.
Jones, who was arrested April 17 and sentenced August 13, gave an interview to The Post from Tarrant County jail, breaking his silence on the bizarre theft that made national headlines. The former employee was caught after his operator, Jarvis Boyd, noticed accounts weren’t balancing at the Grapevine, Texas location and reported the theft to police in November 2025.
“As good and delicious as our mac and cheese is, it is unfortunately one of our most expensive items,” Jones said in the August 26 article, noting it’s $100 a tray when ordered for delivery.
He explained he had been at the establishment with friends when he noticed a register left unattended. That moment, combined with having recently lost his job of seven years, led to the impulse decision that would cost him his freedom.
“Everyone thinks it was more premeditated, ‘Oh, I went in there with a plan.’ That was definitely not the case,” he said.
Security footage reviewed by detectives showed Jones ringing up 800 orders of mac and cheese trays, then refunding them to his personal credit cards. The Grapevine Police Department stated he had been carrying out the scam for months before Boyd caught on, and that he evaded arrest through multiple attempts before the Texas Attorney General’s Fugitive Task Force and Fort Worth Police Department located him.
Jones was charged with property theft, money laundering and evading arrest, and initially faced up to 10 years in prison. His attorney negotiated with the district attorney to reduce the sentence.
“My attorney spoke with the DA, and we kind of explained everything. We all came to an agreement where it wasn’t one of those heinous acts … They got to know, ‘This guy isn’t what we all thought he would be,'” Jones said.
In the viral moment that started it all, Boyd had noticed financial discrepancies at his restaurant and contacted authorities. Detectives identified Jones as the main suspect within a month, tracing hundreds of fraudulent transactions where mac and cheese orders were rung up and immediately refunded to Jones’s personal cards. The scheme totaled just over $80,000, according to the Grapevine Police Department statement. Jones had worked at the location since age 15, making it his first and only job before his firing and subsequent arrest.
Despite everything, Jones expressed a surprising desire to return to the fast-food chain. “I love Chick-Fil-A. Chick-Fil-A is my career. I’ve been there since I was 15 years old, it was my first job. And I hated that things had to end that way,” he shared.
He also pushed back against his online reputation. “I’m not what the internet claims me to be. I’m goofy. I’m fun. I’m kind-spirited. Everyone seems to like me … Hopefully I can show the rest of the world that I’m worth that second chance,” he added.
Jones attributed the crime to unmanaged emotions after his termination. “I let anger, as most people do, let anger and those feelings get in the way, and I went, and I made a bad decision,” he said.
He is currently serving a three-year sentence in Tarrant County.