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Iowa man sentenced, ordered to pay nearly $400k in restitution for cattle fraud scheme

Jeffrey Lewis DeWitt will serve two years in federal prison and must pay back nearly $400,000 to his 11 victims.
cattle

OTTUMWA, Iowa — An Ottumwa man was sentenced Thursday, July 7, to two years in federal prison for defrauding nearly $400,000 from 11 victims.

Jeffrey Lewis DeWitt, 28, will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and must pay a total of $395,968 in restitution to his 11 victims, says a press release from United States Attorney Kevin VanderSchel.

Last December, DeWitt pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conversion of mortgaged property. The plea agreement says DeWitt sent an email to the victim with information and details on the purchase of cattle, which DeWitt promised would be sold within three weeks for a guaranteed profit. The email included purchase prices, resale prices and information on who would repurchase the cattle.

DeWitt knew that information was needed for the victim to get a loan. He used the loan money to purchase the cattle, but only gave his victim a check that was returned for insufficient funds.

DeWitt also admitted to selling the livestock and hay he had mortgaged to the Farm Service Agency without authorization, depositing the funds into accounts held by his parents. He admitted to selling more than $200,000 of collateral.

Other victims had been told that DeWitt would purchase cattle, seed and hay on their behalf but didn’t. He created fake invoices and checks, says the press release.

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