Minnesota Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud

Acting United States Attorney Dennis R. Holmes announced that a Moorhead, Minnesota, man convicted of Bank Fraud was sentenced on November 29, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann.

Richard L. Carpenter, a/k/a “Butch” Carpenter, age 68, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, $7,784,996 in restitution, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.

An Information was filed on May 11, 2021.  Carpenter pled guilty on June 21, 2021.

The conviction stemmed from incidents beginning in approximately 2008 and continuing through March 10, 2020, when Carpenter knowingly executed and attempted to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud a financial institution whose deposits were, at the time of the offense, insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Carpenter began custom feeding cattle in the 1980s.  In approximately 2008, Carpenter changed his operation from custom feeding to raising and feeding his own cattle in the rural Watertown, South Dakota, area. 

Carpenter was a customer at First Premier Bank.  On multiple occasions over the years, Carpenter provided false and fraudulent information about his income and assets to First Premier Bank in order to induce the bank to loan him money and give him a large line of credit.  Carpenter falsely inflated his cattle sales and the number of cattle he had on hand.  Carpenter also falsified his tax returns and provided those to the bank in support of his falsely inflated figures. 

In approximately 2020, Carpenter also kited checks between his account at First Premier Bank and his account at Reliabank. 

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Watertown Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann M. Hoffman prosecuted the case.

Carpenter was immediately turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.