Owner of Ossian company pleads guilty to selling $128 million of "organic grain" that wasn't organic

Posted: Fri, Dec 21, 2018 8:48 AM

The owner of Jericho Solutions, a grain brokerage operated out of Ossian, has entered a guilty plea to wire fraud for fraudulently selling nearly $140 million in grain as though it was organic--when it was not.

61-year-old Randy Constant from Chillicothe, Missouri, was convicted of one count of wire fraud after admitting to a the fraudulent scheme involving at least $142,433,475 in grain sales, the vast majority of which Constant admitted were fraudulent.

At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids, Constant admitted to lying to customers from from 2010 to 2017, telling customers the grain he sold was grown on his certified organic fields in Nebraska and Missouri when the grain was not organic. In fact, he had either purchased the grain from other growers, sprayed certified organic fields with unauthorized substances, or mixed non-organic grain into organic grain.

As part of his plea agreement, Constant agreed to forfeit $128,190,128 in proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.

Sentencing before United States District Court C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Constant was released on bond pending further proceedings. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years' imprisonment, at least a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.