(Sioux City)– A northwest Iowa seed dealer has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.
44-year-old Nathan Christie of Larchwood pleaded guilty to the charges in March of this year and was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Sioux City.
Federal prosecutors say Christie took money directly from farmers for seed but didn’t forward the money to the owner of the seed. Instead, they say he used the money to pay for gambling losses and other personal expenses. They add Christie was nearly caught when a distributor asked about a bill he had received from a seed company. To pay the bill, Christie acquired a little more than $62,000 by forging his spouse’s signature on an agriculture agreement and another $350,000 by forging his spouse’s signature on a second mortgage on their home. He then stopped using the first distributor’s account and found two new ones.
Christie appeared in U.S. District Court in March of this year and pled guilty to two counts. He was released on his personal recognizance without pretrial supervision. On July 11th of this year a federal judge revoked the provision after Christie was arrested in Lyon county on a burglary charge. He was then detained.
In addition to the prison term, Christie must also pay more than $461,000 in restitution. He’s being held in the custody of a U.S. Marshal pending transport to a federal prison.
