BOISE -- A beekeeper from Carey has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for making false statements to obtain more than $3 million in loans and cash payments.

William L. Laidlaw pleaded guilty in September and admitted falsely telling the U.S. Department of Agriculture that he was producing large amounts of honey as collateral for loans.During a February 1996 inspection of his facilities, when Laidlaw should have had more than 5.5 million pounds of honey as collateral for about $2.7 million in loans, he had virtually no honey. He later defaulted on the loans.

U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ordered Laidlaw Monday to pay the Agriculture Department more than $3 million in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

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