FARGO, N.D. - Aaron and Derek Johnson, the two brothers from North Dakota found guilty of insurance fraud for destroying their potato crop in December, were ordered to pay the government back a total of $932,776. They were sentenced to serve a collective five and a half years in prison for the crime.
"This was a crime of dishonesty," U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson said during his sentencing of Aaron Johnson, according to an ABC News report. "It defrauded the taxpayers of the United States."
Erickson emphasized the need for the brothers to serve time to dissuade others from attempting to repeat the crime.
Aaron Johnson was sentenced to serve four years, while brother Derek Johnson was sentenced to a year and half.
Derek’s attorney, Benjamin Thomas, argued that Aaron made most of the decisions without Derek’s knowledge, and that he suffered enough punishment having lost his job, home, and quite possibly his wife and children who have since moved to British Columbia while he will more than likely be restricted from going to Canada, according to ABC News.
Aaron’s attorney, Somah Yarney, argued for a mitigated prison sentence on the grounds that he would be more able to pay back the $932,776 in the working world. Yarney also stated it would be a loss to Aaron’s community, as he donated potatoes to schools, senior centers and churches to help Northwood recover from a 2007 tornado that wiped out much of the town.
Accordng to the report, Yarney was able to argue that the government could only prove the fraud for 2006, and not for the claimed 2002-2005 years.
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