CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A northern Iowa farmer has been given six months in prison for selling corn that was pledged as collateral on federal Farm Service Agency loans of more than $196,000.
Leroy Jones, 59, of Floyd, was sentenced Wednesday, Oct. 12, in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids. The judge ordered Jones to pay nearly $138,000 in restitution.
Jones pleaded guilty to one count of conversion of property pledged to the agency. Jones admitted during his plea hearing to removing or converting nearly 90,600 bushels of corn that he’d pledged as collateral. Jones said he sold the corn for nearly $333,000 from Dec. 1, 2014, through Sept. 30, 2015.
