Kentucky Tobacco Farmer Pleads Guilty in Crop Insurance Fraud Scheme

A tobacco farmer in Kentucky has pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit false claims on crop insurance policies.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Keith A. Foley submitted the plea July 22 and admitted to fraud totaling about $480,000. His plea agreement says that he repeatedly claimed to have grown less tobacco that he actually produced so that he could get an insurance payment based on the lower yield.

It says Foley sold some of his tobacco under other people’s names as part of the conspiracy, which the agreement says was aided by a crop adjuster who got a kickback from the false claims. The document identifies the adjuster only as M.M. It’s unclear if the adjuster was charged in the scheme.

Foley is set to be sentenced in October.