LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- Attorneys for the U.S. government recommended jail time for a 76-year-old Michigan farmer and former committee member of the USDA's Farm Service Agency. He pleaded guilty to theft of public money in a federal investigation into alleged federal crop insurance and farm benefits fraud, telling a federal court on Thursday the farmer should have known better.
Springport, Michigan, farmer Gaylord Lincoln was indicted by a grand jury in 2022 on 13 counts, including wire fraud and mail fraud in connection with an alleged scheme to set up so-called sham farming operations using the names of family members and farm employees to apply for and receive additional crop insurance benefits he wouldn't have qualified for otherwise.
He later pleaded guilty to theft of public money under $1,000 as part of a plea agreement.
"The totality of the defendant's relevant conduct involved nearly a decade of fraud against the federal government resulting in $1.2 million in unjust enrichment," U.S. attorneys said in a sentencing memorandum filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Michigan on Thursday.
"To the defendant's credit, he has repaid approximately $900,000, but the government was recently informed the defendant has failed to pay the remaining $300,000 pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement. Overall, this case involves significant loss to the government committed by a defendant who knew better. This defendant spent 28 years as a committee member for the Farm Service Agency and was privy to the innerworkings of the specific program he defrauded."
A pre-sentencing investigation report, according to the U.S. government, calculated Lincoln's sentence at 27 to 33 months. However, the charge he pleaded guilty to comes with a maximum one-year sentence, and the federal government recommended that sentence.
"Instead of working to ensure the program was run properly, the defendant took advantage of his unique knowledge to assist himself in furthering his fraud," the government said this week.
"The defendant's actions in taking advantage of his position of trust serves to heighten the severity of his criminality."
U.S. attorneys said Lincoln has no prior criminal record until the latest case that "appears to stem from a difficult divorce."
The memorandum said Lincoln "served his country in the Marine Corps" and, since 1993, has operated a "successful farming operation" and has been "actively involved" in his community.
As part of the plea agreement signed by Lincoln at the end of September 2024, he could be sentenced up to one year in prison, ordered to pay up to a $100,000 fine and serve up to one year of supervised release.
"From March 11, 2019, through March 19, 2019, in the eastern district of Michigan, the defendant, Gaylord Lincoln, knowingly embezzled, stole and converted to his own use, less than $1,000 of money of the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation," according to the plea agreement.
In July 2024, Lincoln's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the fraud charges. They argued the activity alleged in the 2022 indictment could have been a "scheme to conceal" from the government the owner of the farm, but it was not a "scheme to defraud" the government of money or property.
In December 2021, the U.S. government filed a complaint alleging Lincoln violated the False Claims Act by maintaining a "scheme to fraudulently" obtain more federal farm benefit program payments than he was entitled to receive, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
According to the new plea agreement, Lincoln previously entered into a settlement agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
In that 2021 case, Lincoln agreed to pay the U.S. $1.2 million plus interest for claims that "include specific conduct" in the case.
In September 2022, a federal grand jury handed down indictments, including four counts for making a false statement to obtain crop insurance, five counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud. That same month, U.S. attorneys dropped the 2021 lawsuit as part of the settlement.
Lincoln's farm operates on land across four counties in south-central Michigan, including Calhoun, Eaton, Ingham and Jackson.
Read more on DTN:
"Mich. Farmer Signs Plea in Fraud Case," https://www.dtnpf.com/…
Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com
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