Missouri man pleads guilty for his role in one of the biggest frauds in farm history
A Chillicothe, Missouri, man pleaded guilty Monday to his role in a $142 million scheme to sell non-organic grain as though it was organic, according to a news release from the U.S. District Attorney’s office in Kansas City.
Steven N. Whiteside, 57, pleaded guilty to charges that he falsely signed documents related to the fraudulent scheme, according to the release.
The scheme, one of the biggest and longest-running frauds in the history of American agriculture, was masterminded by Randy Constant, also of Chillicothe.
From 2010 to 2017, Constant mislead customers into thinking they were buying certified organic grain when it wasn’t. The scheme involved at least $142 million in grain sales, most of which was fraudulent, according to the release.
The grain was mostly used as feed for chickens and cattle, which later were sold as organic products. Thousands of consumers across the country purchased what they thought was organic meat at premium prices, according to the news release.
Constant was sentenced in August 2019 to just over 10 years in federal prison without parole in a related case prosecuted in the Northern District of Iowa. As part of the plea, Constant also agreed to forfeit $128 million in proceeds from the scheme.
Three days later, at the age of 60, he took his own life.
John Burton of Clarksdale, Missouri, and three farmers from Nebraska, all of whom who supplied Constant with non-organic grain, were also sentenced to federal prison for their roles, according to the news release.
In his plea, Whiteside admitted to signing a document in May 2015 falsely claiming he owned or farmed land which he had no affiliation to, or did not control.
He falsely claimed in a land use history document that no chemicals had been used on the property in the proceeding three years, which was needed so that grain grown on the land was certified as organic, according to the news release.
The document was also co-signed by Constant, who also purchased non-organic grain from Whiteside and employed him at a fish farm that failed.
