EWG Subsidies — Why JWI, ICAv2 Tie-In & Investigator Search

Built 2026-07-12. Reconciles the EWG subsidy database to the ICAv2 damage figure and lays out the records still needed. Bridges to 2026.06.16 ICAv2 — Open Scope of Work (Master Catch-Up) and 2026.06.16 Damages-to-Counts Crosswalk — $SURCHARGE mapped to charges.

Routing (2026-07-15): This is v3 charging content, not a v2 edit. Pushed to 2026.07.16 ICAv3 — Revisioning Backlog §A.3. Per the locked A1 decision (aggregate Class 2 under §18-4-401(4)(b)), the #16 figure $350,654.05 folds into the Count 2 aggregate (discrete Class 3 available in the alternative), rather than standing as its own count.

Companion files produced this pass (dated copies — originals untouched)

• _INCOMING/2026.05.12 Excel_Working/2026.07.12 EWG Spreadsheet (charted).xlsx — replaces the two broken line charts (they pointed at an external [1]EWG! workbook) with a self-contained data block (rows 52–81) and three native charts: (1) all seven recipients stacked by year, (2) The Handoff — Frenzl-combined vs. JWI, (3) JWI's Conservation/Disaster/Commodity composition.
• _INCOMING/2026.05.12 Excel_Working/2026.07.12 $SURCHARGE.xlsx — adds a July 2026 value/description column (M/N) to the $SUR tab; 8% CO §5-12-102 prejudgment interest rolled forward on owed-money lines, fees/assets held flat and flagged.

1. The headline number

One non-family renter collected ~45% of the entire ~$2.27M subsidy pie — nearly as much as all six Frenzl family entities put together. That is the anomaly the chart makes visible.

2. Why JWI got them — the mechanism

USDA/FSA farm payments (commodity, CRP/conservation, disaster) are paid to the producer/operator of record on file with the Farm Service Agency for each farm and tract — not to the landowner. Whoever is listed as the operator on the FSA-578 acreage report and the CCC-902 farm operating plan, and whoever the lease assigns the federal payments to, captures the money.

$SUR line 16.0 states it plainly (workbook, verbatim):

"Justin Imhof, now on his third revision of a lease, has written himself in on receiving 100% of all annual federal farm subsidies due to both Lewis Frenzl's Estate and John Frenzl's Trust."

The EWG data corroborates a clean handoff:

• Frenzl entities' commodity payments dry up ~2012–2013 (J H Frenzl & Co's last commodity payment is 2012; the LCF Trust's taper toward 2022).
• JWI's payments explode over the same window — near-zero before 2013, then $40k–$155k/yr commodity 2015–2021, plus a disaster-subsidy spike of $103k (2022) and $94k (2023).
• Cross-county footprint matches the land moves. JWI drew from Logan ($36,183 conservation), Washington ($427,328 disaster), and Yuma ($549,438 commodity) counties. The Frenzls were Washington-County-only. JWI's three-county spread mirrors the six-parcel 2021 refinance ($SUR #11: 2 WaCo, 3 YuCo, 1 LoCo) and the 560-ac 2021 transfer ($SUR #17c) — i.e., he was collecting subsidies on the very parcels he had refinanced/retitled to himself using Trust-mortgaged money that was never repaid.

So the subsidy capture is not a standalone act — it is the income stream riding on top of the same self-dealing already charged in $SUR #7, #11, and #17.

3. How it ties into ICAv2 — the $350,654 figure

Tab 16.3 EWG already derives the ICAv2/$SUR number. Methodology (confirmed cell-by-cell):

1. Take JWI's commodity subsidies per year, 2015–2023 (his largest bucket, $530,558 total).
2. Halve each year (=X19/2, etc.) — theory per the tab's own notes: "Equity was owned ½ by JHF and ½ by LCF … Half of $335,000 is $167,500 in equity given to Justin Imhof by the JHF Trust … No proof … paid back."
3. Cap the 2020 outlier at $55,000 (raw was $155,489). → row 30 total $211,527.
4. Grow each half-year at 8% (Variables!B6) to 2025 via FV(). → $350,654.0475.

That is $SUR line 16.0 = $350,654.05, which the 2026.06.16 Damages-to-Counts Crosswalk — $SURCHARGE mapped to charges maps to a Class 3 theft count (§18-4-401, $100k–$1M value tier): theft of a public/Trust benefit claimed on land JWI did not own. It stacks with the discrete C3 theft counts for #7 ($335k loan) and #11 ($850k loan) and the C2-floor land-exchange count (#17).

⚠ Two findings that likely UNDERSTATE the ICAv2 subsidy damage

1. Conservation + disaster subsidies were excluded. The $350,654 uses commodity only. JWI's conservation ($187,729) and disaster ($294,662) — a further $482,391 — were left out entirely. If any share of those sat on Trust/Estate acres (the disaster $ is Washington County, i.e. core Frenzl ground), a proportional slice is additional, un-claimed damage. Rough upside at the same ½ assumption + 8%: on the order of +$250k–$300k.
2. The 2020 cap and the 2024–2025 gap. The 2020 commodity was cut from $155,489 to $55,000, and the calc stops at 2023 (EWG's data horizon). Tab 16.3 already pencils a 2024 = $213,664 half-WashCo figure that needs FSA confirmation, and 2025 is open. Restoring 2020 and closing 2024–2025 both push the number up.

Net: the defensible ICAv2 subsidy claim is likely materially higher than $350,654 once FSA records land — but every dollar of the increase depends on the documents in §4.

4. Where investigators must search — the missing links

The $SURCHARGE Overview tab already flags "Farm Service Agency docs" under Missing Subpoenas/Depositions. Concretely, subpoena / FOIA the FSA county offices — Washington (Akron), Yuma (Wray), Logan (Sterling), CO, for 2013–2025:

A. The authoritative subsidy records (these name who claimed what, on whose land)

• FSA-578 Report of Acreage — per farm/tract number, each year. Names the operator of record and crop-share %. This is the single document that proves JWI claimed 100%.
• CCC-902 Farm Operating Plan + CCC-901 Member Information — establishes JWI as "actively engaged" and his payment share.
• FSA-211 Power of Attorney — did Teresa/Justin hold POA to sign FSA paperwork for Lewis / the Trust? Ties directly to the coerced-signatory theory ($SUR #2, the 2016 signatory addition).
• CRP-1 conservation contracts — who signed, on whose enrolled acres (explains JWI's $187,729 conservation, incl. the $50k/yr 2022–2023 jump).
• Disaster-program files (ELAP / LFP / ECP / WHIP+) — what event, what acres, what ownership proof (explains the $103k/$94k 2022–2023 disaster spike).
• Farm reconstitution records (CCC-505, tract maps) — when tracts were re-attached to JWI's farming operation; should line up with the 2021 refi and the 560-ac retitle.

B. Documents that convert the subsidy into a theft element

• All three lease revisions (the Lueking leases — WaCo REC# set already tracked in ICAv2 item C8). Pin the exact clause assigning 100% of federal payments to JWI, and date each revision against the subsidy-year jumps.
• Deed/title for every FSA farm/tract JWI claimed (Washington/Yuma/Logan recorders) — proves the land was JHF Trust / LCF Estate, not JWI's. Ownership-vs-claimant is the theft.
• Bank tracing of the USDA ACH deposits — subsidies land in an account. Trace into Trust acct xx4132 vs. JWI/Teresa personal/business accounts (this is Pool B of the sequestered signature/fund-flow pipeline). Shows where the money physically went.

C. Reconciliation / data-gap closers

• Use EWG (farm.ewg.org) only as the open-source proxy — it lags ~1 yr and rounds; FSA is authoritative. Have FSA confirm exact per-year figures and supply 2024–2025 (EWG here ends 2023).
• Confirm the ½ JHF / ½ LCF ownership split (currently an assumption in 16.3) against actual title — it drives the whole halving.
• Decide whether to restore the 2020 outlier ($55k → $155,489) with FSA backup.
• Quantify the conservation + disaster upside (§3, finding #1) once ownership per tract is known.

5. July 2026 $SURCHARGE update — what changed & one flag

• Added July 2026 column: owed-money lines grown by 8% (§5-12-102) × 1.0939 (May 2025 → 7/1/2026, 14 mo). Fee lines #36/#37 and present-value asset lines #21/#23 carried flat and flagged (fees accrue by billing; asset PV isn't interest-bearing).
• New snapshot totals: lines 1–35 = $9,259,803, lines 36–41 = $237,351, grand total $9,497,154 (was $8,713,143 in May 2025) — plus the still-TBD punitive/treble and per-line interest recalc noted at $SUR row 58, plus the subsidy upside in §3.
• ⚠ Pre-existing double-count to verify (not introduced here): $SUR #6.0 and #9.0 are annotated "Rolled into Category No. 19" yet #9.0 still carries $228,966 in the value column and is inside the lines 1–35 subtotal. Confirm #9.0 isn't being counted both on its own line and inside #19.0's back-rent figure before this schedule goes to mediation.

Open loops this note feeds back to ICAv2 scope

• Adds concrete substance to ICAv2 C-series [OBTAIN] list — the FSA record pull (§4A) is a new, high-value subpoena target belonging next to C1 (TBK loan file) and C3 (trust bank records).
• The conservation/disaster upside and the 2024–2025 gap are new analysis items for the next ICAv2 damage pass (relates to D-series threads).