The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has released details of a crop insurance fraud case involving two Springfield farmers.

Patrick Esch and Ed Dean Jagers both pled guilty and were sentenced to pay a combined $3.1 million in restitution. They will serve two and six-month prison sentences, respectively.

Esch and Jagers also agreed to pay a combined $3.5 million to settle civil allegations. In total, the two men will pay more than $6.5 million to resolve the allegations against them, the Department of Justice said.

The farmers allegedly tampered with rain gauges, making it appear that less rain had fallen, to access federal funding for crop insurance programs that pay indemnities. 

This resulted in damages to rain gauges in southeast Colorado between July 2016 and June 2017, some of which belonged to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and were operated by the National Weather Service.

Related articles: USDA sanctions California and Pennsylvania PACA violators

Esch covered gauges in southeastern Colorado with agricultural equipment and used means such as filling gauges with silicone to prevent them from collecting moisture, cutting wires on the gauges, or detaching and then tipping over the bucket that collected precipitation. 

Jagers typically used an agricultural disc blade to cover up a rain gauge in Lamar, Colorado. This tampering created false records making it appear that less rain had fallen than was the case.

The tampering falls under the False Claims Act, which imposes civil penalties for certain types of fraud on the federal government, and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, which imposes civil penalties for a variety of misconduct.

“Hardworking farmers and ranchers depend on USDA crop insurance programs, and we will not allow these programs to be abused,” said U.S. Attorney Cole Finegan.  “This case also shows the full measure of justice that can be achieved when our office uses both civil and criminal tools to protect vital government programs.”