Former Illinois Grain Elevator Owner Gets 15 Months

A former southwestern Illinois grain elevator owner has been sentenced to a year and three months in federal prison for committing mail fraud.

Forty-eight-year-old John Kniepmann of Breese also was ordered in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis to repay more than $108,000.

Kniepmann pleaded guilty in December to two counts of mail fraud.

Federal prosecutors say Kniepmann admitted he fraudulently increased an insurance claim by more than $34,000. The claim dealt with a 2006 fire at his Consolidated Exchange business in Clinton County.

He also admitted he defrauded a financial institution by selling $87,000 worth of grain that was collateral for a loan taken out by his businesses, then hiding the sale.