Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
ST. GEORGE — A man from Sanpete County was sentenced to over four years in prison Thursday after admitting to selling numerous farmers' equipment and keeping the proceeds.
Ryan Palmer, 56, was also ordered to pay over $1.2 million in restitution as part of his sentence and will face another five years' probation, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah.
The sentencing took place in St. George's district courthouse before Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen.
In a plea agreement signed in February, Palmer admitted to bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Another money laundering charge was dropped.
Palmer admitted to promising customers of his company, Palmer Equipment LLC, that he would sell their farming equipment on consignment for them for a percentage of the proceeds. Instead, between 2017 and the end of 2021, he said he used the equipment as collateral to take out a loan he never paid back, lying to the bank when he claimed the equipment as his own, before selling the equipment without paying the real owners.
Palmer "told buying victims that he could deliver functioning farm equipment that he owned and was free and clear of any encumbrances," according to the indictment, before he "delivered defective equipment to buying victims, removed and replaced serial placards on equipment, and improperly sold equipment that he did not own."
The proceeds of the sales would be transferred to Palmer's personal bank, the charges say.
In one case, according to Palmer's plea documents, he received a tractor he promised to sell for at least $20,000, with an estimated value of $25,000. Instead, he took out a loan of $51,000 on the tractor and other equipment, before selling it for $19,450 and keeping the proceeds for himself.
The case was investigated by the FBI, IRS, Sevier County Sheriff's Office and Salina Police Department.
