A Kentucky tobacco farmer pleaded guilty this week to a federal charge of crop insurance fraud after stealing more than $500,000 through false checks, according to court documents. 

Roger Birge Jr. pleaded guilty Sept. 29 to participating in a yearslong conspiracy to defraud the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. Birge rented and owned farmland in Barren, Hart, Metcalfe and Monroe counties, and he had insurance coverage on the crops for 22 years. 

In 2016, Birge obtained false sale documents from the Farmers Tobacco Warehouse in Danville, to support a false claim of a loss, according to the plea agreement. Birge then wrote a check to the warehouse that made it appear he had bought more tobacco than he did. The manager of the warehouse, Thomas “Tommy” Kirkpatrick, paid Birge back for the checks and kept some money for the Farmers Tobacco Warehouse, according to the plea. Birge sent a copy of the canceled check to the warehouse with the sales receipt that allowed insurance to inflate Birge’s indemnity payment. Birge could face up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He will pay restitution of $1.1 million over a five-year period. 

Kirkpatrick also pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge in July. According to court documents, Kirkpatrick provided paperwork to farmers to commit fraud against the federal crop insurance program.

Source - Herald Leader