Farmer Jailed 13 Years for $1.7M Fraud

LINCOLN, Neb. (DTN) -- A western Iowa hog farmer was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison last week on several counts including crop insurance fraud and theft of government funds after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2025.

Danbury, Iowa, farmer Tanner James Seuntjens, 33, pleaded guilty on Sept. 19, 2025, to one count each of theft of government funds, aggravated identity theft, crop insurance fraud and stalking.

Seuntjens was sentenced to 156 months in prison, ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution to USDA and to serve a five-year term of supervised release after the prison term.

Between June 2020 and June 2021, Seuntjens defrauded USDA out of more than $1.5 million in Coronavirus Food Assistance Program grant funds, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.

Livestock producers qualified for CFAP subsidies on a per-head basis that depended on producers' self-certified livestock inventories.

Seuntjens filed CFAP applications at three Iowa county USDA Farm Service Agency offices that each falsely claimed ownership of thousands of swine.

According to court records, Seuntjens forged the signatures of two other people when filing the applications with USDA, according to the U.S. attorney.

Seuntjens later submitted false documents to USDA-FSA county commissioners who were attempting to verify the USDA payments during so-called spot checks.

DEFRAUDED BANK

From March 2021 through April 2022, Seuntjens defrauded a South Dakota bank, according to the U.S. attorney. He borrowed funds from the bank as early as 2014 and pledged his accounts receivable as collateral, which included payments from the sales of grain and livestock.

When Seuntjens sold grain and livestock at a cooperative and an auction, the bank required the cooperative and auction to issue two-party checks to Seuntjens and the bank.

"Seuntjens forged an authorized representative of the bank's signature on two-party checks at least 20 times and he deprived the bank of more than $400,000 of its collateral," the U.S. attorney said in a news release.

"Seuntjens spent the diverted funds on a combination of farming expenditures, a trip to Cocoa Beach and Disney World, transfers to family members and large cash withdrawals."

In addition, the U.S. attorney said Seuntjens committed crop insurance fraud in 2022 and 2023.

Seuntjens admitted in his plea he repeatedly under-reported his crop yields during the 2022 and 2023 crop seasons and received crop insurance funds. Seuntjens stole an additional $175,000 from federal taxpayers through this crop insurance fraud, the U.S. attorney said.

In 2023 and 2024, Seuntjens defrauded multiple agricultural suppliers by selling their collateral out of trust. He also sold livestock and grain in a third party's name to avoid creditors' liens and judgments, according to an indictment.

WITNESS STALKING

"Seuntjens stalked one of the victims of his agricultural fraud case, even though there were no-contact orders forbidding him from having contact with that witness," the U.S. attorney said.

In an unrelated state court case, the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County found Seuntjens had assaulted the witness and planted a tracking device on a minor.

The court in that case said it was "deeply concerned" about the safety of minors if Seuntjens were allowed to have contact with them and issued a no-contact order.

In August 2025, while the Iowa District Court's no-contact order was in effect and while Seuntjens was on federal pretrial release, he traveled to Nebraska and placed a tracking device on the witness's car, according to the U.S. attorney.

"Seuntjens admitted he did so with the intent to harass and intimidate the witness and to place the person under surveillance," the U.S. attorney said.

A federal judge detained Seuntjens for his stalking activity and the U.S. Marshal held Seuntjens in custody at a local jail.

"While in jail in late 2025, however, Seuntjens repeatedly contacted the minors," the U.S. attorney said in a news release, and the Iowa District Court found Seuntjens in contempt of court in March 2026.

"Seuntjens has a significant criminal history involving fraud and violence," the U.S. attorney said.

CRIMINAL HISTORY

In 2020, Seuntjens received a deferred judgment for a felony second-degree theft conviction. In 2023, Seuntjens was convicted of third-degree theft and fined after he presented the state court with a bad check to pay his restitution obligations in the prior second-degree theft case.

In 2024 and 2025, Seuntjens received three additional fines from the state court after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct in three separate cases. "Seuntjens received those fines after he put his hands on the victim's throat causing fingernail markings on both sides of the victim's neck," the U.S. attorney said.

"He also pushed his victim into a counter, followed the victim around town, called the victim from a blocked number, and violated a protective order."

Todd Neeley can be reached at todd.neeley@dtn.com

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