Barren County farmer gets 52 month sentence for crop insurance fraud

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

A Barren County farmer has been sentenced to serve time in federal prison for conspiracy to launder money tied to a large-scale crop insurance fraud scheme.

Sixty-nine-year-old Larry Walden was sentenced in the Eastern District of Kentucky to a 52-month sentence in federal prison and three years of supervised release stemming from his involvement in a multi-year crop insurance scheme throughout Kentucky.

As previously reported by Glasgow News 1, Walden entered into a guilty plea in May and agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Agriculture over $9.9 million.

Walden was sentenced by judge Karen Caldwell and he must report for his sentence of 52 months by 2 p.m. on March 5, 2026, according to his court documents.

Other farmers have also been sentenced for their role in the same conspiracy to commit crop insurance fraud and have been sentenced as followed.

• Thomas Kirkpatrick, 67, of Stanford, Ky., the former manager of Farmers Tobacco Warehouse, was sentenced to 48 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $16,156,345 in restitution.
• David Hunt, 63, of Campbellsville, Ky., a farmer who obtained fake documentation from Kirkpatrick in order to support fraudulent claims to indemnity payments under an organic tobacco insurance coverage policy, was sentenced to 42 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and $5,427,365 in restitution.
• Terry Wilson, 67, an Edmonton, Ky, farmer who used Farmer Tobacco Warehouse to facilitate his fraud conspiracy, was sentenced to time served, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $667,679.00 in restitution.
• Christopher Wilson, 50, Terry Wilson’s son, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $669,447 in restitution.
• David Wisdom, 69, a Glasglow, Ky., farmer who used Farmer Tobacco Warehouse to facilitate his fraud conspiracy, was sentenced to 48 months, followed by three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $1,941,007 in restitution.
• Robert D. Birge, Jr., 51, a Summer Shade, Ky., farmer, was sentenced to 6 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $1,114,519 in restitution.