Tenn. Adjuster Awaits Sentencing in Faked Crop-Loss Scam

An East Tennessee insurance claims adjuster is awaiting sentencing in a crop loss insurance scam.

The agent who sold multimillion-dollar crop insurance policies to tomato farmers who faked a hailstorm has been sentenced to more than two years in prison. A federal judge in Asheville, N.C., sentenced George Kiser of Lebanon, Virginia.

Prosecutors said Kiser sold policies from 1997 to 2000 to Candler, N.C., farmers Robert and Viki Warren, knowing the Warrens’ claims of past crop yields were inflated.

The Warrens faked weather damage to their crops by having workers throw ice cubes onto a tomato field and then beat the plants. Both have been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Two other defendants pleaded guilty.

One is claims adjuster Thomas Jeffrey Marsh of Bulls Gap, Tenn., who awaits sentencing. The other is farm foreman Demetrio Jaimes of Candler, who accepted probation in a deal to cooperate with prosecutors.