As a portent of the imminent rollout of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement Act (SOE), a Minnesota farmer was sentenced to three years in federal prison for fraudulently selling organic grain to a buyer in Pennsylvania.  The defendant pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced in December.

The fraudulent scheme to market GMO grain as organic was uncovered because of a consolidation of a merchandiser where the defendant purchased conventional grain to be sold as certified organic.  It isn’t clear how this case would have transpired under the auspices of the SOE.

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