A Pocahontas County farmer who converted property he had pledged as collateral for loans was sentenced yesterday to three years probation.

Andrew William Frerk, age 34, from rural Havelock, Iowa, received the prison term after an August 9, 2011, guilty plea to one count of converting to his own use nearly $60,000 worth of property. Between March and December 2006, defendant converted approximately $49,529 worth of cattle, $7212 worth of grain, and $1598 in government program payments which were mortgaged or pledged to, or held by, the Commodity Credit Corporation through the Farm Service Agency and the United States Department of Agriculture. He made false statements to secure FSA loans, used proceeds from the sale of FSA-mortgaged property for his own use, and concealed his acts of conversation from loan managers.

Frerk was sentenced in Sioux City by United States District Court Judge Mark W. Bennett. Frerk was sentenced to three-years probation. A special assessment of $100 was imposed and Frerk paid $58,339 in restitution.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 11-3026.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture and Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild.

 

 

Return to Top