DES MOINES, Iowa – On January 11, 2024, a Marshalltown man was sentenced to 21 months in prison after pleading guilty to crimes of insurance fraud.

In 2018, following the EF-3 tornado that hit Marshalltown, Iowa, Timothy D. Sletten, 32, engaged in two separate schemes to defraud State Farm, the insurer of Sletten’s numerous residential rental properties, including presenting false work invoices for claim benefits. Again in 2020, following the derecho disaster in Marshalltown, Sletten presented false work invoices from contractors alleging he had paid the contractors for repairs to disaster-related damage to his rental homes when in fact he had not done so. As a result of these fraudulent schemes, State Farm paid Sletten loss claim benefits totaling just over $180,000. Following the 2020 derecho, State Farm opened an internal investigation that caused the company to deny payment of disaster-related claims made by Sletten.

Additionally, Sletten was fined $50,000 and ordered to pay full restitution. Following his prison term, Sletten will be required to serve three years of federal supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

United States Attorney Richard D. Westphal of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Iowa Insurance Fraud Bureau and the Marshalltown Police Department investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Laura M. Roan prosecuted the case.