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Judge Sentences H&I Grain Owners to Five Years

Grain marketing scam caused millions in losses to farmers in eastern South Dakota

Prison jail VIA PIXABAY MAY 2021

Four years after a multimillion dollar grain marketing scam and a coverup caused millions in losses to farmers in eastern South Dakota, a circuit judge in Beadle County, South Dakota, sentenced each of the co-owners of H&I Grain to five years in the state penitentiary for fraud in grain marketing, AgWeek reports.

Citing “criminal mentality” and “lack of remorse,” Circuit Judge Kent A. Shelton sentenced Jared and Tami Steffensen each to terms of five years in state prisons and made them liable for restitution of $4,966,491.80 to farmers, as well as other costs.

The Steffensens, former owners of H&I Grain, a private grain elevator, were immediately placed in handcuffs and led out of the Beadle County Courthouse in Huron, SD, as a courtroom of victims looked on. Shelton denied their request to report to jail after making arrangements for their children at home.

Read the full report at AgWeek.

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