Ex-Agriland FS Manager Pleads Guilty To Theft Charge

A 42-year-old Malvern man was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison  after pleading guilty to first-degree theft Monday in Mills County District Court.

Mills County Attorney Tricia McSorley said Jeffery Dennis Anderson stole just under $75,000 in goods, services and money  from his former employer, Agriland FS through what she described as a  “farming scheme” and “trucking scheme.” The stolen cash was taken from a bank account.

A joint investigation between the Mills County Attorney’s Office and the Mills County Sheriff’s Office determined Anderson committed the thefts while employed as a plant manager for Agriland FS, a Winterset-based, farmer-owned cooperative with locations in 22 Iowa communities, including Malvern.

The alleged thefts took place between Oct. 1, 2008, and Aug. 18, 2014. Arrested in August, Anderson was originally charged with second-degree theft, but the county attorney’s office amended the charge to first-degree after receiving additional information in the investigation.

As restitution, Anderson will be required to pay the $10,000 deductible on Agriland’s insurance policy and the costs associated with the company’s employee investigation prior to the matter becoming a criminal case.