Opinion ID: 4020399
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: False Statements to the Farm Services Agency

Text: Hattaway was also convicted of two counts of making false statements to the Farm Service Agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. The two counts are for the two fake receipts he submitted to the National Appeals Division. He maintains that he did not intend to influence the agency to grant him benefits because the purpose of the proceeding was only to determine if he was a qualifying producer. As discussed above, however, that inquiry was the threshold question to his ability to apply for benefits. He also argues that the receipts were not necessary to determine producer eligibility, but 18 U.S.C. § 1014 does not require that the statements to the Farm Service Agency be necessary, only that they be false and made for the purpose of influencing the agency. Hattaway next claims that the statements were not false. First, he argues that these receipts do not contain factual assertions that are capable of being characterized as true or false, citing Williams v. United States, 458 U.S. 279 (1982). Williams involved a check-kiting scheme. The Supreme Court held that the checks were not factual assertions as to the amount of funds in an account, but rather “served only to direct the drawee banks to pay the face amounts to the bearer, while committing petitioner to make good the obligations if the banks dishonored the drafts.” Id. at 284. Here, however, the statements are amenable to “confirmation or contradiction.” United States v. Kurlemann, 736 F.3d 439, 445 (6th Cir. 2013) (citing Williams, 458 U.S. at 284). The first statement was a receipt dated October 26, 2008 showing that - 10 - Case Nos. 16-5237, 16-5241 United States v. Robert Hattaway Hattaway had purchased 1,550 bushels of wheat seed for $10,075 from C & C Farms. The second statement was a receipt dated October 28, 2008 showing that Hattaway had paid Womack Seed Farms $1,937.50 to have 1,550 bushels of wheat cleaned. These statements could be proven false if Hattaway had in fact not purchased 1,550 bushels of wheat seed from C & C Farms on October 26, 2008 and had not paid Womack Seed Farms to have 1,550 bushels of wheat seed cleaned on October 28, 2008. And, despite Hattaway’s protestations, a rational trier of fact could have so found. Steve Stubblefield, who worked for the Warren County Farm Service Agency, testified that he was unable to verify the C & C Farms receipt. Renee Clift testified that she and her husband operated C & C Farms and that it was not a receipt from C & C Farms, noting that the address listed the incorrect town and zip code, that C & C Farms did not sell the specific type of wheat listed on the receipt, that Hattaway was not in their database as a customer, and that they used a different format to generate receipts. As for the second receipt, Darren Womack of Womack Seed Farms testified that he did not believe the receipt for seedcleaning was his because he does not clean the specific type of wheat listed and he did not receive payment for it. Thus, there was sufficient evidence for the jury to have convicted Hattaway of making false statements to the Farm Service Agency.