MINNEAPOLIS – Two Minnesota farmers are charged with conspiring to sell more than $46 million worth of chemically treated crops as organic, the federal prosecutor’s office announced Friday.
James Clayton Wolf, 65, and Adam Clifford Olson, 45, both certified organic farmers in Cottonwood County, were each charged with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.
Wolf had previously been charged in federal court with wire fraud before being named in Friday’s superseding indictment.
The indictment alleges that between 2014 and 2021 Wolf defrauded grain buyers by claiming that crops treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides were organic.
Organic crops are grown from non-GMO seeds and without chemicals or fertilizers.
Olson is accused of helping Wolf sell crops falsely described as organic after Wolf’s organic farming certification was revoked in 2020.
Wolf made his initial appearance at the earlier indictment on July 22. Olson is scheduled to make his initial appearance on January 26.
Lawyers for Wolf and Olson did not return calls seeking comment Friday.
:watermark(https://f.pmo.ee//logos/4133/bb989514d16b88b940b51f02e07642d0.png,-2p,-2p,0,18,none)/nginx/o/2023/01/15/15081273t1hf4f9.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1)
