James R. R. Williams, Bank Fraud, Illinois 2023

URBANA, Ill. – James R. R. Williams, a 63-year-old farmer from rural Cisco, Illinois, has made headlines after pleading guilty to four counts of bank fraud on May 2, 2023. As the case unfolds, sentencing for Williams has been scheduled for September 7, 2023, at the U.S. Courthouse in Springfield, Illinois.

In court before U.S. District Judge Collen R. Lawless, Williams admitted to obtaining a loan of approximately $4.6 million from First Security Bank and Gifford State Bank on behalf of his farming operation, RJW Williams Farms, Inc. for the 2016 growing season. The loans were collateralized by Williams’s assets, including grain.

However, Williams defrauded both banks by concealing his grain sales from the banks. He instructed employees of Archer Daniels Midland grain elevators in Niantic and Weldon, Illinois, to issue four checks to another individual, which were then deposited into an account held jointly by Williams and that individual and used by Williams for his own benefit.

The government alleges that between October 20, 2014, and February 1, 2017, Williams caused ADM to issue approximately twenty-two checks totaling $540,505.35 in the name of his son for grain that was actually sold by Williams and was collateral for Williams’s outstanding loan.

Williams was released on bond pending sentencing. If convicted of each of the four counts of bank fraud, Williams faces statutory penalties of a maximum twenty-year term of imprisonment, a maximum $1 million fine, and a maximum five-year term of supervised release.

The case investigation was conducted by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation — Office of Inspector General. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller is currently representing the government in the prosecution.

Related Federal Cases