Iowa Man Sentenced For Spending Cattle Loan Funds On Gambling
An Iowa man was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after using loan proceeds from USDA’s Farm Service Agency for personal expenses, including gambling and alcohol. Briar Robert Detwiler, 26, from Bellevue, Iowa, was sentenced on Oct. 4, 2021, after a guilty plea to one count of conversion of property pledged to a farm credit agency.
Information from the plea agreement and at sentencing showed that the Farm Service Agency approved Detwiler’s loan request for $50,000 to purchase fifty beef calves in December 2017. Detwiler then requested a disbursement of $9,000 of the funds, falsely stating that the money was for the purchase of cattle. Detwiler immediately spent the $9,000 on construction materials for his personal residence. Detwiler then asked for the remaining $41,000 of loan funds. Of these funds, Detwiler spent $32,230.08 on 35 head of cattle. Detwiler spent the remaining funds on gambling, bars, and food, according to court records.
In October and November 2018, Detwiler sold 22 head of the cattle for $33,976.41. As Detwiler later admitted, instead making any repayment towards the loan, Detwiler spent all of the proceeds he received from the cattle sales in a casino and in bars.
In addition to the prison term, Detwiler was ordered to make $52,684.38 in restitution to the Farm Service Agency. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
