GREENWOOD, MISSISSIPPI, US – John R. Coleman, former chief executive officer of Express Grain Terminals, LLC, on March 19 was sentenced by a county judge in Mississippi to 15 years in prison and to ordered pay $750,000 in restitution for committing wire fraud in which he altered the company’s audited financial statements to receive a state warehouse license.

The first 10 years of his state sentence issued by Leflore County Circuit Court Judge Margaret Carey-McCray will be served concurrently with his federal sentence. In February, United States District Judge Michael P. Mills sentenced Coleman to serve 10 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered him to pay $69.8 million in restitution to 152 victims.

Court documents said Coleman lied about the amount of debt he owed on grain held at the Express Grain facility and claimed to farmers that Express Grain was financially healthy when Express Grain was on the brink of bankruptcy. Express Grain eventually filed bankruptcy in 2021, causing widespread financial hardship for farmers in the Mississippi Delta.

In the state case, he was charged on five counts of making false representations to defraud the government and one count of false pretenses to more than 400 farmers.

“The fraudulent actions of this defendant cost many Mississippi farmers their livelihood,” said Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “I am proud of our work with federal and state partners to investigate and prosecute these crimes."