Cedar Falls Man Charged With Pig Neglect Pleads In Fraud Case
A Cedar Falls co-op manager has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to bank fraud.
Nolan Otto DeWall was the manager and shareholder for the Black Hawk County grain cooperative. On top of that, he was also part owner of a trucking company in Dike.
According to reports, in May of 2018, DeWall was wrapped up in a “check-kiting” scheme where he would transfer large amounts of money by check between the grain co-op and trucking company.
DeWall transferred the funds between the grain co-op and the trucking company for “no legitimate business purpose”. The grain co-op was in financial distress so by transferring the funds, DeWall falsely and temporarily inflated its account balance for the co-op's benefit.
When the check-kiting scheme collapsed, the trucking company was left with a balance of negative $247,000. This caused the company to go defunct forcing it to sell all of its assets.
According to reports, one of DeWall’s partners in the trucking business had to file for personal bankruptcy and take out a personal loan to pay back the negative balance.
DeWall was sentenced to a year and one day of prison time. On top of that, he must pay $217,441.96 in restitution to his partners in the trucking business. Following the prison time, DeWall must serve a two-year supervised release.
This isn't the only charge DeWall has received recently.
DeWall is also facing an animal neglect charge after he allowed more than 800 pigs to starve or freeze to death while under his care.
According to past reports from the incident; "Dewall was 'hired to raise 2,500 pigs until they reached around 280 pounds.' The pigs were dropped off late in December and by December 30, 800 were found dead."
The remaining pigs were removed from the farm; 51 died while being moved and another 60 died the following days. DeWall was charged with one count of livestock neglect, which is a misdemeanor.