Mark Frisbie, a southwest Florida farm manager, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal crop insurance fraud charge involving false production and sales figures from farms around Immokalee.
Frisbie, 60, of Punta Gorda, signed a plea agreement admitting to one count of making a false statement in a federal crop insurance claim. Federal court records describe substantially understated production and sales from bell pepper crops managed through a farming partnership.
Under the agreement, Frisbie will pay $1.748 mn in restitution to the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation. He also agreed to reimburse the Farm Service Agency about $1.507 mn for fraudulent applications involving separate federal agricultural assistance programmes, bringing total restitution above $3.25 mn.
The crop insurance conduct covered several growing seasons. Court records state Frisbie reported about $759,000 in bell pepper sales across claims covering crops between 2020 and 2024, while other records showed sales exceeding $6.7 mn.
Federal prosecutors calculated that the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation paid about $1.796 mn in indemnities tied to those claims. Accurate production and sales information would have produced roughly $134,600 in payments, leaving an overpayment of about $1.66 mn.
Frisbie also admitted signing a false claim involving a fall 2021 round tomato crop. The filing reported about $34,600 in sales, compared with records showing more than $177,000, and produced an $87,470 insurance payment that prosecutors say wasn’t owed.
The charge itself centres on a false claim for a fall bell pepper crop. Court records state Frisbie received information showing substantially higher sales before certifying lower figures for insurance purposes, yet he signed the claim used to calculate the federal payment.
The plea documents refer to two other participants as Coconspirator 1 and Coconspirator 2 without identifying them by name.
A former Oakes Farms executive told WINK News that Coconspirator 1 was Oakes Farms owner Francis Alfie Oakes III, an identification also reported by other Florida news organisations.
The federal court documents themselves don’t name Oakes as Coconspirator 1, and Oakes hasn’t been charged in Frisbie’s case. Efforts by several news organisations to obtain comment from Oakes or his attorney were unsuccessful.
Frisbie managed farming operations under a partnership with Coconspirator 1 and shared its profits and losses. The plea agreement also states that he dealt regularly with Coconspirator 2, who reported to the unnamed partner.
Another former Oakes Farms manager, Christopher Lee, reached a separate plea agreement with federal prosecutors in 2025. Prosecutors accused Lee and other participants of insurance farming, including intentionally failing to properly fumigate or fertilise insured crops while seeking federal crop insurance payments.
Lee’s agreement described additional conduct involving delayed acreage reports, false documents and efforts to interfere with crop insurance inspections.
His case forms part of the broader federal investigation surrounding agricultural operations in southwest Florida.
Frisbie also admitted submitting fraudulent applications connected with the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program and Emergency Relief Program. Those USDA programmes provided financial assistance to agricultural producers affected by market disruption, price declines and natural disasters.
According to his agreement, some improperly obtained federal payments were shared with Coconspirator 1 or used for partnership expenses. The document also states that Frisbie didn’t know or reasonably foresee the full amount of insured acreage or hidden crop production associated with other participants.
Frisbie has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and prosecutors examining the wider conduct. His obligations include providing truthful information, assisting with efforts to identify forfeitable assets and testifying before a grand jury or in federal court when required.
Making a false statement in a federal crop insurance claim carries a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The offence also carries a maximum $1 mn fine, or a larger amount where permitted by federal sentencing law, along with supervised release and restitution.
Those maximum penalties don’t represent Frisbie’s expected sentence. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a reduction for acceptance of responsibility, and further cooperation classified as substantial assistance would support an additional sentencing reduction. The federal judge retains authority over the final sentence.
Frisbie’s attorney, Simon Gaugush of Carlton Fields, said his client accepted responsibility for the conduct and is cooperating with the government.
Gaugush also said Frisbie had operated a legitimate southwest Florida farming business for more than 15 years alongside the conduct covered by the federal case.
The agreement adds another cooperating defendant to a wider investigation involving crop insurance and federal agricultural assistance programmes in southwest Florida. Frisbie’s final sentence and restitution order will depend on the federal court after his plea is formally accepted and sentencing proceedings are completed.
