Elma farmer sentenced to 10 months jail for fraud
Wed, 09/26/2018 - 5:27pm
admin
Elma - David Pitz, age 36, from Elma, Iowa, received a prison term of 10 months in federal prison for using farm proceeds for personal expenses instead of paying off his USDA-backed line of credit.
Pitz, an area farmer, pleaded guilty on April 6, 2018 to Conversion of Property Pledged to a Farm Credit Agency. In his plea agreement, he admitted to receiving a $125,000 line of credit from the United States Department of Agriculture, facilitated with an Elma, Iowa bank.
As part of the loan agreement, Pitz was required to apply any crop sale proceeds or other farm-related income toward the debt. Instead, he used $117,010.68 in crop proceeds for personal expenses, including purchasing a non-farm related building.
After interest and other fees, it was agreed Pitz owed the bank and USDA $177,269.24, which he was ordered to repay. After release from prison, he will also serve a three-year term of supervised release.
The date to start serving his jail term has yet to be set.
