Advertisement

Man sentenced for fraud involving federal crop loan

Error message

  • Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 133 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to get property 'settings' of non-object in _simpleads_adgroup_settings() (line 343 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Warning: array_merge(): Expected parameter 1 to be an array, bool given in _simpleads_render_ajax_template() (line 157 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/includes/simpleads.helper.inc).
  • Notice: Trying to access array offset on value of type null in include() (line 24 of /home/pdccourier/www/www/sites/all/modules/simpleads/templates/simpleads_ajax_call.tpl.php).

A former Bloomington man was sentenced Thursday, Jan. 5, by U.S. District Judge James Peterson to three years probation and ordered to pay $85,424.51 in restitution for fraudulent conversion and sale of crops owned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA FSA).

Kelly Wachter, 34, pleaded guilty to the above charges on Oct. 3, 2016, according to John Vaudreuil, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Wachter admitted, during his plea, that in May 2014, he obtained a $210,000 loan from the USDA FSA for the purpose of planting corn and soybean crops on farmland he rented in Bloomington. The crops were considered collateral for the loan, and the proceeds from the sale of the crops were to be used first to pay the FSA loan.

When the FSA had not received any proceeds from crops sold by the following year, they began an investigation, which revealed that Wachter had used some of the original loan money for personal expenses and belongings. According to Attorney Vaudreuil, the investigation further revealed the crops had been harvested in late 2014, and that Wachter sold the crops and used the proceeds for his personal benefit without the knowledge or permission of the FSA. Among the personal expenses Wachter paid with the loan and proceeds were $15,000 for a truck, $30,000 for a car, $11,000 for a student loan, $36,000 for a boat and a vacation to Mexico.

The charge against Kelly Wachter was the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Anderson.

Rate this article: 
No votes yet