LINCOLN, Neb. -- A man from Central Nebraska will need to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution after lying about owning cattle to obtain a loan. 

According to a news release, a federal judge sentenced 39-year-old Daniel Butt, of Grand Island, on Wednesday to five years of probation and eight weekends in jail. He will also need to pay $192,758.61 to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Services Agency after being convicted of making a false statement on a loan application and bankruptcy fraud. 

Officials said that between 2016 and 2018, Butt obtained two loans from the Farm Services Agency. They say he lied about owning cattle and used the fictional livestock as collateral. He agreed to use the loan for farming expenses. Officials started investigating when Butt denied ever having owned cattle during bankruptcy proceedings. 

Investigators found Butt had multiple financial accounts and had been spending the loan money on other farming-related debts, car payments, personal expenses, and ATM withdrawals.  

The release said Butt wrote bad checks to the FSA and never paid all of the money he earned from farming, as was required by the terms of the loan. Butt avoided repayment obligations by selling grain in his father’s and brother's names. Investigators say he lied to creditors under oath in bankruptcy court when he denied having done this. When he filed for bankruptcy, he tried to get the outstanding loan debt to the Department of Agriculture discharged.  

This case was investigated by United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General.