Clay Center Man Sentenced For Loan Fraud

WICHITA, KAN. – A Clay Center man was sentenced Thursday to two years on supervised release for selling assets he had pledged as collateral on a federal loan, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today. The defendant was ordered to pay approximately $84,594 in restitution.

Harold R. Mugler, 64, Clay Center, Kan., pleaded guilty to one count of criminal conversion. In his plea, he admitted that in 2009 in received a $100,000 loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. Over the following years, he sold off various pieces of farm machinery that he had pledged as collateral on the loan. He was behind on his loan payments in 2015 when the government learned of the sales.

Beall commended the USDA-OIG and Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Smith for their work on the case.