Wisconsin Farmer Sentenced for Federal Crop Insurance Fraud

February 17, 2017

John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Mark E. Johnson, 50, a farmer in Dresser, Wis., was sentenced on Feb. 13, 2017, in a federal crop insurance fraud case.

During a plea hearing in November 2016, Johnson had admitted to overstating his actual soybean and corn production history to his private crop insurer, who was reinsured by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Johnson admitted that he falsely understated his corn and soybean production in 2013 and 2014, in connection with his misreporting of his crop production over a three-year period. Johnson admitted that by falsely stating his production, he caused a loss of $228,523.35 to the federally funded crop insurance program.

He was sentenced to one year of probation, which includes six months of home confinement, was fined $20,000, and ordered to pay $228,523.35 in restitution.

The charge against Johnson was the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Peter M. Jarosz and Darren C. Halverson.

Source: United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin

Topics USA Fraud Agribusiness

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Latest Comments

  • February 20, 2017 at 8:54 am
    JMC says:
    What a load of CROP that sentence is!
  • February 17, 2017 at 4:49 pm
    Lucas says:
    You apparently didn't read where he has to pay back the 1/4 million dollars?
  • February 17, 2017 at 3:11 pm
    mrbob says:
    Wow steal a 1/4 of a million dollars and only get 12 months probation and a 20K fine. That sentence sure sends a message of how serious the government is about this type of c... read more

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