Opinion ID: 721091
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Deduction for Steven Brewer's eligibility

Text: 47 Defendants seek an additional annual $50,000 per-program deduction from the calculation of loss based on the partnership eligibility of Steven Brewer. 48 At a pre-sentencing hearing, Steven Brewer and a local ASCS official gave testimony on Steven's eligibility for farm subsidies in his own right prior to becoming a partner of B & M Farms in 1986. With a $100,000 bank note secured by his father, Steven had leased land and equipment for farming and had received farm subsidies with his own annual $50,000 limit. After 1986, Steven subleased this land to B & M Farms and stopped receiving subsidy payments in his own right. The ASCS official testified Steven was not actually eligible for the pre-1986 payments he received, because of the nature of his borrowed capital and leased land. The ASCS official also stated B & M Farms had in fact paid Steven wages (and not draws) for his farm labor, consistent with those paid to John MacLeod and Michael McLeod. Consequently, the official concluded Steven's contributions to B & M Farms were insufficient to create increased eligibility for farm subsidies. 49 Given this evidence, the district court's denial of additional deductions based on Steven's participation was not clearly erroneous. 50