Jury clears Minnesota family in ag fraud case
Feb 6, 2006
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP)--A federal jury cleared members of a western Minnesota family of criminal charges in a large agricultural fraud case.
The jury deliberated about a day before returning acquittals Jan. 26. The defendants had been accused of swindling the federal government out of $5.3 million in farm subsidies and crop insurance.
"We all were just relieved that it's over," said Owen Peterson, of Wendell. "It's been chasing us since 1999."
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)--A federal jury cleared members of a western Minnesota family of criminal charges in a large agricultural fraud case.
The jury deliberated about a day before returning acquittals Jan. 26. The defendants had been accused of swindling the federal government out of $5.3 million in farm subsidies and crop insurance.
"We all were just relieved that it's over," said Owen Peterson, of Wendell. "It's been chasing us since 1999."
The indictment covered activities from 1996 to 2003. The indictment came soon after a federal report that said oversight of farm programs should be strengthened.
Owen Peterson said his family felt they were targeted to be made an example of.
"They seen a big bull's-eye and they wanted to try to hit it," he said. "They took us out of farming is what they've done." Most of the family's farm has been auctioned.
The Petersons at one time claimed farming operations on a total of 25,000 acres in Grant, Kittson, Marshall and Polk counties in Minnesota and in Codington, Roberts, Deuel and Hamlin counties in South Dakota. Another farm was listed in Cass County, N.D., with Alan and Corwin Peterson as partners.
A civil complaint against the Petersons, filed by the U.S. attorney's office, is pending.