BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A Casey County, KY, man was sentenced today (Wednesday, Nov. 8) in United States District Court by District Judge Greg N. Stivers, to 12 months in prison and 3 years supervisory release, with the first 12 months spent in home confinement. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $689,104.28 to the Farm Services Agency for his role in a conspiracy to defraud the Farm Credit Administration by concealing the sale of grain to unauthorized purchasers, announced United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman.
Christopher S. Fair, 38, of Liberty, KY, previously entered a guilty plea to two counts of a criminal indictment including converting assets pledged to the Farm Credit Administration and bankruptcy fraud.
According to the plea agreement, between July 18, 2012, and October 29, 2013, defendant Fair obtained loans from Central Kentucky Agriculture Credit (CKAC) and secured these loans with the proceeds of expected grain sales and pursuant to the loan agreements, Fair was only authorized to sell grain to authorized buyers. CKAC is a subsidiary of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Farm Credit Administration, and the loans were guaranteed by the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA).
Contrary to the loan agreement, and without CKAC’s knowledge or consent, Fair sold his grain to unauthorized purchasers, and transferred the proceeds of those sales to bank accounts under his own control and the control of others, including a bank account under the name FJ Holdings, an entity created by Fair’s friend, Timothy Jaynes. Fair subsequently used those proceeds for his own personal benefit. Fair ultimately defaulted on the CKAC loans, resulting in a loss to FSA of $689,104.28.
In July 2013 Fair filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and knowingly and fraudulently concealed his property and proceeds from his creditors and the US Trustee, including proceeds held in bank accounts under the names FJ Holdings and Jman Farms, LLC. Jman Farms LLC was created by another of Fair’s friends, at Fair’s request, for the purpose of hiding Fair’s assets from creditors.
Defendant Jaynes, 51, of Casey County, was charged in a separate case by Criminal Information and pled guilty in U.S. District Court to converting assets pledged to the Farm Credit Administration Defendant. Jaynes was sentenced to serve three years of probation with supervision, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $50,000 to the Farm Service Agency.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David Weiser and is being investigated by the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the US Bankruptcy Trustee’s Office.
