A Fresno County farmer has been convicted of federal crop insurance fraud, landing her a one-year prison sentence. According to the Eastern District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jatinderjeet “Jyoti” Sihota, 40, from Selma, was involved in falsifying records to claim more than $650,000 in insurance payouts she wasn't entitled to, acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith disclosed.
Sihota, who was part of her family's farming operation producing table grapes and other crops in Fresno and Tulare Counties, conspired with Ralph Hackett, a fruit packing company member and manager, to underreport crop sales, court documents revealed. From 2012 through 2016, the duo made it falsely appear as if the farming operation had suffered major crop losses by providing altered records to the insurance company, the deception went on for years and Sihota, having joined the family business in 2012, was the architect of the fraudulent scheme, an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and Risk Management Agency Special Investigations Staff found.
The legal proceedings showcased emails where "Sihota emailed other fruit brokers asking them to alter records for her," but they refused, revealing the premeditation and persistence behind her fraud. At her pleading, Ralph Hackett agreed to make the alterations with Sihota directing the specific changes needed to carry out the deception under wraps, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton leading the prosecution on this case, as per the Eastern District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Ralph Hackett, 69, of Clovis, was separately charged for his role; he has pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing on May 27, with the potential of 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the line, the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement outlined, Sihota's conviction serves as a reminder of the severe consequences of defrauding agricultural insurance programs, his sentencing will take into account the Federal Sentencing Guidelines which consider numerous factors.
