Johnsons to serve time for crop insurance fraud
Johnsons to serve time for crop insurance fraud
Brothers Aaron and Derek Johnson, who were convicted of felony counts of conspiracy and making false statements to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency and law enforcement officials after a jury returned a unanimous verdict in Fargo, ND, Dec. 11, have 14 days to appeal their sentences handed down by U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson on March 9.
The judge sentenced Aaron Johnson, age 50, to four years in prison and five years of supervised release. Derek Johnson, age 47, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and five years of supervised probation. Both will serve their time in federal prison in Duluth, MN.
Erickson ordered that the Johnsons' farm equipment and land be seized and sold to satisfy financial restitution of nearly $1 million due to crop insurance fraud.
At the time charges were filed, it was alleged that the brothers purposefully damaged their potato crops from 2002 to 2010. The judge based the amount of financial restitution in the case upon losses during the 2006 crop year. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the damage included the application of Rid-X to potatoes, use of warehouse heaters to hasten product deterioration, and addition of spoiled and frozen potatoes to stored product.
The conviction is one of only a handful of this type to have occurred. According to Mark Price, an investigator with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency, there have been six convictions since 2012, and only one in 2014.