NOLAN COUNTY PRODUCER FOUND GUILTY

May 15, 2002 - A Nolan County, Tex., producer was convicted April 11, 2002, on 22 federal charges involving false crop insurance claims. The producer, Scott Fullwood of Roscoe, Tex., was found guilty on eight counts of making false claim to the Government, four counts of mail fraud, nine counts of making false statements, and one count of conspiracy, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Mateja.

Risk Management Agency's (RMA) Southern Regional Compliance Office and USDA's Office of Inspector General (OIG) assisted in the U.S. case against the producer. RMA and OIG used boll weevil eradication program records and infrared satellite images of Fullwood's farms in the investigation.

Fullwood is the sixth person convicted in connection with crop insurance fraud in the county. All six convictions stem from a case involving insurance adjuster Darren Randell Jeffrey, who pleaded guilty in 2001 to falsifying appraisals on more than $700,000 of crop insurance loss claims in 1999 for six cotton and grain sorghum producers.

Fullwood's sentencing will take place in about 2 months.

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