Jatinderjeet “Jyoti” Sihota, 40, of Selma, was sentenced to to one year in prison for conspiring to commit crop insurance fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced.

According to court records, for many years, Sihota’s family’s farming operation produced table grapes and other crops in Fresno and Tulare Counties, and it sold many of those crops through a fruit packing company where Ralph Hackett, 69, of Clovis, was a member and manager.

Beginning in 2012, Sihota became involved with her family’s farming operation. Thereafter, from 2012 through 2016, she and Hackett carried out a fraud scheme to obtain more than $650,000 in crop insurance payments to which they were not entitled.

They caused altered records that underreported the amount of crops the farming operation sold through the fruit packing company to be provided to the insurance company to make it appear as though the farming operation had suffered significant crop losses when that was not true.

Emails and other evidence showed that the fraud was Sihota’s idea. She pleaded with Hackett to make the alterations, instructed him on the specific changes that needed to be made, and asked him to keep everything a secret. Sihota emailed other fruit brokers asking them to alter records for her, but they refused to do so.

Hackett was charged separately and has pleaded guilty for his role in the fraud. Hackett is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27, 2025. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison and $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and Risk Management Agency Special Investigations Staff. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton prosecuted the case.