CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — Michael Wayne Butikofer, age 54, from Monona, Iowa, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2023, to one count of theft of livestock, one count of wire fraud, and one count of false bankruptcy declaration. Butikofer, a Clayton County farmer, stole over $5 million in livestock and COVID-19 pandemic benefits and was sentenced on Oct. 10, 2024, to more than 15 years in federal prison.

Butikofer operated a large farming operation in northeast Iowa known as “Fawn Hollow” operating as a “custom cattle” feeding business, according to evidence in the case. Fawn Hollow employees were to raise and care for cattle owned by other individuals, including cattle investors located across the United States. Fawn Hollow then sold the cattle, primarily to a Wisconsin slaughterhouse.

Butikofer and Fawn Hollow were never registered with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a “dealer” under the Packers and Stockyards Act (P&S Act) of 1921. Butikofer participated in the H-2A visa program and recruited agricultural workers from the Republic of South Africa to work at Fawn Hollow.

Between July 2020 and February 2022, Butikofer had convinced eight cattle investors to allow him to sell their cattle in his own name. Butikofer then converted the proceeds of those sales, totaling over $2.5 million, to his own use. Upon sale to the Wisconsin slaughterhouse, Butikofer falsely represented to the slaughterhouse that he had “good and merchantable title to” the cattle when he did not, in fact, own or otherwise have title to the cattle. This act of fraud attempted to conceal the true ownership of the cattle from the slaughterhouse, and Butikofer attempted to evade the requirements of the P&S Act and its regulations for registration, posting of a dealer bond, and prompt payment, which would have protected the cattle investors’ funds.  

Also, in July 2020 and August 2020, Butikofer defrauded the USDA of more than $1.2 million in COVID-19 emergency assistance funds designed to assist livestock producers during the pandemic. Specifically, Butikofer submitted untrue applications titled “Coronavirus Food Assistance Program” (CFAP) payments. It was part of Butikofer’s wire fraud scheme that he falsely represented in CFAP applications that he and some of his associates owned cattle when, in truth, they did not own the cattle in question.

In February 2022, the Small Business Administration (SBA) paid Butikofer over $1.5 million as part of an application for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). Butikofer made false representations to the SBA about his financial condition and intended use for the SBA loan funds. He then used a portion of those funds to file for bankruptcy later that same month.

Butikofer perjured himself five times and made numerous false and fraudulent statements about his financial condition in bankruptcy filings during the bankruptcy case. There were more than 100 creditors in Butikofer’s bankruptcy case, and he used the bankruptcy case to delay and hinder legitimate collection efforts. 

In 2018, Butikofer used forced labor and abused Fawn Hollow workers, according to court documents. H2-A workers living on the farm had no hot water or furniture, and their water was contaminated. He also dumped dead cattle near the house where they lived. Butikofer is accused of assaulting one worker by grabbing the worker’s shirt and pushing him toward a corn auger. He tied the hands of another South African H-2A worker with a cable tie to an electric jigsaw and threatened workers with hanging and an electric shock dog collar, court documents state. In 2020, three migrant workers obtained a $247,000 civil judgment against Butikofer in federal court for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Trafficking Victims Protective Reauthorization Act. Butikofer later used his fraudulent bankruptcy proceeding to convince the workers to settle their judgment for $75,000.

From April 2023 to November 2023, while on federal pretrial release, Butikofer recruited and caused another person from Fawn Hollow to recruit H-2A workers to the United States under fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. These included (1) the housing conditions provided to the employees; (2) the location of the employees’ work; (3) the terms and timing of reimbursement for the employees’ work and expenses; and (4) payment for injuries sustained during the employment. One example is Butikofer convincing an H2-A worker from South Africa to come to the United States with his wife and daughter. Upon arrival, Butikofer housed the family in a camper without water, electricity or heat. Eventually, US Department of Homeland Security agents rescued the family and paid for their food and shelter at a hotel in Cedar Rapids. Agents later rescued other workers bound for Fawn Hollow in April 2024, according to court documents.  

Butikofer repeatedly contacted witnesses in violation of a court order while his criminal case was pending and attempted to convince grand jury and trial witnesses to make false statements and sign false documents in attempts to obstruct justice.

Butikofer was sentenced to 188 months’ imprisonment in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams. There is no parole in the federal system.

Additionally, he was ordered to pay over $5.7 million in restitution, forfeit $500,000 and repay $5,000 in attorney fees. After his prison term, he must also serve a three-year term of supervised release. His plea agreement includes a promise from Butikofer to pay the H-2A workers’ entire $247,000 judgment and also to voluntarily terminate and cease participation in foreign labor programs with respect to any program administered by the US Department of Labor or US Department of Homeland Security.  Butikofer is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.

“Butikofer treated his victims and the rule of law with equal contempt, and fully deserves his 15-year sentence to federal prison,” said United States Attorney Timothy T. Duax. “This office will continue to aggressively prosecute people who defraud the government through the agricultural sector, the bankruptcy court, and by the mistreatment of foreign workers.”