Coggon Hog Farmer to Serve 8 Years for Bank Fraud

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Jun 22, 2012 at 3:40 PM CDT

Story Updated: Jun 22, 2012 at 3:40 PM CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A Coggon hog farmer who defrauded a northeast Iowa bank out of almost $7 million was sentenced Thursday to more than eight years in federal prison.

David LeClere, 59, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud March 12. At the plea hearing and in a written plea agreement, LeClere admitted to a scheme to defraud a bank from March 2007 to May 2009. LeClere admitted he defrauded the bank by providing the bank with false information each month, falsely inflating the number and weight of his hogs, and falsely inflating his accounts receivable by reporting that packing plants owed him more money than they did.

LeClere also admitted defrauding the bank by redepositing on multiple occasions checks he had received as payment from packing plants, according to court records. The bank lost at least $6.9 million in the scheme.

LeClere was also ordered to pay $8,274,888 in restitution to the bank.