No. 23-1252 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

James Garrett

Defendant - Appellant ___________________________

No. 23-1256 ___________________________

United States of America

Plaintiff - Appellee

v.

Levi Garrett

Defendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the District of South Dakota - Central ____________

Submitted: October 19, 2023 Filed: May 29, 2024 ____________ Before BENTON, SHEPHERD, and KELLY, Circuit Judges. ____________ KELLY, Circuit Judge.

A jury found James Garrett and Levi Garrett guilty of making false statements in connection with federal crop insurance, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. The Garretts appeal, challenging the district court’s 1 evidentiary rulings and its denial of their post-trial motions. We affirm.

I.

James Garrett operated a farm in Sully County, South Dakota, with his son, Levi.2 The Garretts participated in a federal crop insurance program, which was administrated by Crop Risk Services (CRS) and backed by the Risk Management Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Through that program, they both obtained insurance for sunflower crops in 2018, and James obtained insurance for a corn crop in 2019.

In 2018, to receive full insurance coverage for a sunflower crop in Sully County, the USDA required that it be planted no later than June 20, 2018. James signed an acreage report certifying that he planted 1,115.22 acres of sunflowers between June 11 and June 16, 2018. And Levi signed an acreage report certifying that he planted 1,122.79 acres of sunflowers between June 10 and June 13, 2018. Both reports were signed on July 6, 2018. Above their signatures, the reports included the following statement:

1 The Honorable Roberto A. Lange, Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of South Dakota. 2 Because two members of the Garrett family are involved in this litigation, we use first names for clarity. -2- I certify that to the best of my knowledge and belief all of the information on this form is correct. I also understand that failure to report completely and accurately may result in sanctions under my policy, including but not limited to voidance of the policy, and in criminal or civil penalties (18 U.S.C. § 1006 and § 1014; 7 U.S.C. § 1506; 31 U.S.C. § 3729, § 3730 and any other applicable federal statutes.).

On June 27, 2018, a hailstorm hit Sully County, and the Garretts reported harvest losses to CRS. James reported a loss of $246,687, and Levi reported a loss of $248,361.

In 2019, to receive a discounted insurance premium for his corn crop, James agreed to plant at least twenty acres of corn on two or more fields within a square- mile section of land. On July 12, 2019, James signed an acreage report certifying that he planted 47.5 acres of corn on June 17, 2019, and that he was prevented from planting 2,171.28 acres of corn due to weather-related issues. That year, James reported a loss of $557,066.

Following an investigation, James and Levi were charged in a multi-count superseding indictment. As relevant to this appeal, both were charged with making a false statement in connection with the payment of federal crop insurance benefits, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014. The indictment alleged that James falsely certified the number of acres of sunflowers he planted in 2018, as well as the number of acres of corn he planted in 2019. And it alleged that Levi falsely certified the number of sunflowe