BISMARCK — A Washburn man was sentenced in federal court in Bismarck on Tuesday after pleading guilty to crop insurance fraud.

According to a release from U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider, Kent Pfaff, 60, Washburn, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland to pay $379,217 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and to serve a three years of supervised release. Pfaff also agreed to be excluded from receiving benefits from any federal procurement transaction authorized or funded by the USDA for five years.

Pfaff was charged with giving a false statement to influence the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more commonly known as crop insurance fraud. Pfaff entered into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors where he admitted guilt to severely understating his soybean production to falsely increase his crop insurance indemnity payments.

Insurance adjusters discovered the discrepancy in the yield amounts in 2020 after an independent appraisal of the unharvested portions of Pfaff’s soybean units. The appraisal found the yield amounts were actually between four to five times higher than what he had reported to his insurance company, the Risk Management Agency (RMA) and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC).

A subsequent criminal investigation resulted in further investigations by the USDA Office of Inspector General and RMA staff, who uncovered further evidence that Pfaff was “shifting production,” a fraud scheme used to manufacture or inflate claims which the perpetrator is not entitled.