Crop Insurance Fraud Leads to 2 Years in Prison for Missouri Farmer

A southeast Missouri farmer has been ordered to spend two years in prison for crop insurance fraud of more than $200,000.

The Southeast Missourian reports that 48-year-old Bobby David Lowrey, of Parma, was sentenced for making false statements about crop-insurance benefits, theft of government property and wire fraud. Lowrey pleaded guilty to the charges in May.

Court documents say Lowrey placed farms in other people’s names to obtain payments he was not eligible to receive under the federal government’s crop-insurance program. The documents say Lowrey and his wife had maxed out the benefits they could receive.

Lowrey obtained about $240,000 worth of crop-insurance indemnities and subsidies from 2007 through 2012. Court documents say the payments are considered government property.