Farmer’s guilty plea may signal tough new attitude on fake organics

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/08/09/161308/farmers-guilty-plea-may-signal.html

Posted on Thursday, August 9, 2012

By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — A major fertilizer producer from California’s San Joaquin Valley who pleaded guilty to fraud charges this week ran into what appears to be a newly aggressive federal effort to crack down on organic-farming cheaters.

Once one of the largest organic-fertilizer operators in the Western United States, Bakersfield resident Kenneth Noel Nelson Jr. faces prison time and a big fine after his guilty plea to four counts of mail fraud. The 59-year-old businessman will be sentenced in early November.

Nelson is the latest fake-organic-farming businessman to be caught by Agriculture Department enforcement efforts. Once blasted for inaction, department investigators are embarking on what officials describe as an “age of enforcement” in a climate where the organic label can bring a big price premium. snip

Nelson could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the four mail-fraud counts to which he pleaded guilty, though his plea agreement and cooperation mean it’s almost certain that Fresno, Calif.-based U.S. District Judge Anthony Ishii will be less severe at the sentencing Nov. 5.