A central Kentucky farmer who is also a county official has changed his plea, admitting to charges of crop insurance fraud.
Randall Taulbee, a Bourbon County magistrate, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud the federal government’s crop insurance program by overreporting his acreage, submitting false records, claiming to be sole owner of certain crops, and claiming crop losses that never happened, according to his plea agreement filed this month. County magistrates in Kentucky are elected and oversee fiscal matters for their local jurisdictions.
Taulbee must pay $458,100 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, plus another $260,680 to AgriSompo North America, a crop insurance company. Taulbee also faces more than three years in prison. Sentencing is set for Sept. 18 at federal court in Lexington.
Taulbee is the latest central Kentucky person to plead in what prosecutors have called an extensive fraud scheme in the state. In May, Taulbee’s sister, Cheryl Lynn Noble, and her brother-in-law pleaded guilty. They also will be sentenced in September.
Topics Fraud Agribusiness Kentucky
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