Aaron Johnson and Derek Johnson, both of Cooperstown, N.D.,
were accused of adding spoiled and frozen potatoes to the stored crop and using
portable heaters to warm the warehouse above 80 degrees, in attempt to make the
potatoes deteriorate faster.
Two North Dakota brothers were convicted Thursday of
intentionally destroying potatoes to collect crop insurance payments in a
scheme that prosecutors said defrauded the federal government of about $2
million.
Jurors found Aaron Johnson, 50, and Derek Johnson, 47, of
the Cooperstown area, guilty of conspiring to receive illegal payments and
giving false statements.
Prosecutors said the brothers exploited the federal
government's crop insurance program, meant to help farmers recover from losses
due to naturally occurring events, including bad weather and the wet breakdown
of inner potatoes after harvest. Prosecutors said that among other things, the
brothers used chemicals to accelerate deterioration.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase said that the crop
insurance program is based on trust. "The fact that they so blatantly
violated that trust makes me very pleased about the verdict," he said in a
telephone interview after the verdict was announced.
Defense attorneys had argued that prosecutors have no hard
evidence against their clients.
Defense attorneys in their closing arguments hammered away
at the credibility of witness Leo Borgen, a former farmhand for the brothers
who outlined what Chase had called the "criminal circle" in the case
that included Borgen and the two Johnsons. Borgen is serving prison time for
sexually assaulting another man in 2009 and was also charged with lying to
police.
Ben Thomas, Derek Johnson's attorney, said Borgen
"leveraged money and favors from the government," including $1,200
for his testimony and a transfer from the state penitentiary in Bismarck to a
jail in Jamestown.
"Does a convicted rapist deserve that kind of
treatment?" Thomas asked.
Prosecutors said his testimony was backed up by other
witnesses, some of whom heard Aaron Johnson brag about the alleged scheme.
Defense attorneys said the claim that many people knew about the scam was
typical small-town gossip with no truth.
The brothers were accused of adding spoiled and frozen
potatoes to the stored crop and using portable heaters to warm the warehouse
above 80 degrees, in attempt to make the potatoes deteriorate faster. The
defendants, prosecutors said, found that the best way to wreck the crop was
using Rid-X, a chemical that's designed to dissolve solid materials in septic
systems.
Richard Henderson, Aaron Johnson's attorney, pointed out
that authorities did no sampling or testing for Rid-X.
Chase said he was pleased that several farmers in the
community testified at the brothers' trial about the status of their own potato
crops around the time the Johnsons were being reimbursed for bad potatoes.
Neil Fulton, who leads the public defender's office and is a
spokesman for Aaron Johnson, said in an email late Thursday that he was
disappointed and would discuss options with him before sentencing.
Each brother faces up to 20 years in prison at sentencing.