A Sigourney man pleaded guilty last Monday to mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

According to court records, 48-year-old Mark Lynn Haines engaged in a scheme to defraud and obtain money from 2015 to 2018 concerning sales of grain as organic, when the grain was grown in violation of the United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP).

NOP is a federal regulatory program which governs organic agricultural products. One of Haines’ key violations was the use of treated seed, which is prohibited by NOP. He later concealed his violations from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and sold the grain to a number of unwitting purchasers.

Additionally, Haines conspired to impede and obstruct the IRS in the assessment and collection of income taxes. Between April 2017 and April 2019, He obtained false invoices, backdated checks, and exchanged checks to give the appearance of an expense that was not incurred.

Haines is scheduled to be sentenced on August 18, 2023, where a federal judge will consider the United States Sentencing Guidelines among other statutory factors.