A Tennessee farmer is heading to prison for his second conviction of illegally taking money from the federal crop insurance program.
Insurance News Dot Net says David Manion, a tobacco farmer in Tennessee and Kentucky, was given a 42-month prison sentence in U.S. District Court. Manion’s first conviction took place eight years ago when he was sentenced to spend one day in custody after admitting he defrauded the crop insurance program. Earlier this year, Manion pleaded guilty to another count of federal crop insurance fraud based on knowingly making false statements and reports on applications for crop insurance between 2016-2022.
According to federal court records, Manion carried out the fraud by having his children insure crops in their names on land that he owned. Manion’s attorney reached an agreement with federal prosecutors in which he’d pay almost nine million dollars in fines. Two million dollars has already been paid.
