Decorah Man Sentenced for Selling Goats and Farm Equipment Pledged as Collateral for a Federal Farm Loan

A man who had pledged assets as collateral for a United States Department of Agriculture farm operating loan and then sold those assets without notifying the Department he was doing so, was sentenced today to five years’ probation.

Andrew Hansen, age 36, from Decorah, Iowa, received the sentence after a guilty plea to one count of conversion of property pledged to a farm credit agency.

In a plea agreement, Hansen admitted that he pledged assets, including farm equipment and dairy goats, as security on Farm Services Agency loans he procured to operate a dairy goat farm in northeast Iowa.  Hansen further admitted that, in August 2013, without notifying the Farm Services Agency, he sold goats that he had pledged as security on the loans and then used the proceeds from the sale for his own purposes rather than to pay off the farm loans.  He also admitted to selling various pieces of farm equipment that he had also pledged as security on the loans.    

Hansen was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade.  He was sentenced to five years’ probation and 50 hours of community service.  A special assessment of $100 was imposed and he was ordered to make $35,650 in restitution to the Farm Service Agency.  Because Hansen was convicted of a felony offense, he can no longer legally possess firearms or ammunition. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov.  The case file number is 15-CR-2039.

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