Cottonwood County farmer sentenced to 3 years in prison for wire fraud
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A southern Minnesota farmer has been sentenced to three years in prison after he made millions falsely claiming his crops were organic.
James Wolf, a certified organic farmer from Cottonwood County, pleaded guilty in May to one count of wire fraud for engaging in a scheme to defraud grain purchases by selling non-GMO grains falsely represented as organic.
Wolf admitted to purchasing conventionally farmed grains from a supplier and reselling them with the organic label.
MORE NEWS: Missouri antitrust lawsuit has Minnesota's real estate industry on guard
The scheme allegedly netted profits of nearly $20 million, which Wolf used to purchase real estate, vehicles, farm equipment and investments.
Wolf's prison sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.