Used Over $117,000 of Money for His Personal Benefit that He Had Promised to Use to Repay Farm Loans
A man who operated a northern Iowa farm and used farm proceeds for personal expenses, instead of paying off his USDA-backed line of credit, was sentenced today to ten months in federal prison.
David Pitz, age 36, from Elma, Iowa, received the prison term after an April 6, 2018, guilty plea to Conversion of Property Pledged to a Farm Credit Agency.
In a plea agreement, Pitz admitted he received a $125,000 guaranteed line of credit from the United States Department of Agriculture, to facilitate a loan with a local Elma, Iowa, bank. The line of credit was designed to be advanced to Pitz early each year to cover his farming expenses. Pitz was required to apply any crop sale proceeds, or other farm-related income, towards the debt owed on the line of credit. Instead of paying the money towards what he owed to the bank and USDA, Pitz used $117,020.68 in crop proceeds for personal expenses, including his purchase of a non-farm related building. After interest and other fees, Pitz acknowledged owing the bank and USDA over $177,000.
Pitz was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Pitz was sentenced to ten months’ imprisonment and was ordered to make $177,269.24 in restitution. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Pitz was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Lightfoot and investigated by United States Department of Agriculture - Office of Inspector General.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-CR-2012.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
