(Corrects info. in Press Release to show Nodaway in Adams Co., not Page County)

A man from Adams County was sentenced last week in connection with conversion of mortgaged property. 34-year old Gary Matthew Johnston, of Nodaway, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Stephanie M. Rose to five years of probation, and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $113,754, for converting the proceeds from the sales of approximately 176 head of cattle that were
mortgaged by the Farm Service Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Johnston pled guilty on March 5th, to the charge of conversion of mortgaged
property, which was the result of an investigation by law enforcement after Johnston was involved in multiple sales of collateral at livestock auctions that were not reported to the Farm Service Agency as required.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture, Office of the Inspector General, and the case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation are urging the federal Environmental Protection Agency to hold a public hearing in Iowa over the agency’s proposed changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard, or R-F-S. It’s feared those changes could hurt the ethanol industry and Iowa is the nation’s top ethanol producer. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he hopes the E-P-A takes the request for a hearing in Iowa seriously.

“They’re going to say they’re in Kansas City but Iowa, anyplace in Iowa, is the center of ethanol production and that’s where they should be,” Grassley says. “Why they aren’t, I don’t know.” A letter is being sent to E-P-A administrator Gina McCarthy that’s signed by all six members of Iowa’s congressional delegation. Members say the decision to drop R-F-S levels set by Congress has left the biofuels industry in an uncertain situation which has slowed investment. Grassley says it’s important for the agency’s leaders to fully understand the impact of their rulemaking.

“It’s to embarrass them into understanding why avoid Iowa?,” Grassley says. “It’s going to embarrass them to come where the information is, make it easier for those that are in the middle of ethanol production and things of that nature. It’s that simple.” Iowa has 42 ethanol plants in operation, producing nearly three-point-eight billion gallons a year, about 25-percent of all ethanol produced nationwide. Iowa plants also produced 230-million gallons of biodiesel in 2013.

(Radio Iowa)