Jury Acquits Minnesota Family in Agriculture Fraud Case

A federal jury deliberated about a day before returning acquittals for members of a Minnesota family accused of criminal charges in a large agricultural fraud case, the Associated Press reported.

The defendants had been accused of scamming the federal government out of $5.3 million in farm subsidies and crop insurance.
(See Jan. 5, 2006 Insurance Journal Web site story).

The 51-count indictment charged Owen Peterson, 44; Lamont V. Peterson, 50, and his girlfriend, Rebecca J. Van Vickle, 48, both of Pine River, Minn.; and Corwin D. Peterson, 53, and Alan V. Peterson, 55, both of Boise, Idaho. The indictment covered activities from 1996 to 2003.

The Petersons at one time claimed farming operations on a total of 25,000 acres in Grant, Kittson, Marshall and Polk counties in Minnesota and in Codington, Roberts, Deuel and Hamlin counties in South Dakota. Another farm was listed in Cass County, N.D., with Alan and Corwin Peterson as partners. The AP account said that most of the family’s farm has been auctioned.

A civil complaint against the Petersons, filed by the U.S. attorney’s office, is pending.