United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that a Bradenton, Florida, man convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Money Laundering was sentenced on February 22, 2021, by U.S. District Judge Karen E. Schreier.
Kent Duane Anderson was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $15,311,927, and a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $200.
Anderson was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 4, 2020. He pled guilty on November 5, 2020.
The conviction stemmed from incidents between 2012 and 2018, when Anderson owned and operated a business enterprise that exploited the organic grain market. Anderson purchased thousands of tons of small grain and seed products from non-organic suppliers and then re-sold those products as "organic" to wholesale distributors, brokers, and other buyers at marked-up prices. Those buyers, who believed the grain sold them to be organic, were defrauded.