By Blake Jackson
A Kentucky man was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison on Thursday for conspiring to defraud the United States by committing crop insurance fraud.
Randall Taulbee, 59, of Carlisle, Kentucky, was a magistrate in Bourbon County from 2018 until his resignation earlier this year. He owned and rented farmland in Bourbon and Nicholas Counties, where he produced tobacco and corn.
Beginning in 2009, Taulbee began to insure his crops through federal crop insurance. From 2013 to 2017, he worked with his co-defendants to falsify crop insurance policies and claims of loss.
Taulbee's co-defendants have also been sentenced. James A. McDonald received six months in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $718,784 in restitution. Cherie Lynn Noble received probation and community service and was ordered to pay $263,614 in restitution.
Taulbee must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. He was also ordered to pay $718,784 in restitution.
Photo Credit: gettyimages-pattanaphong-khuankaew
Categories: Kentucky, Crops