Man arrested for allegedly stealing over $600K in onions, potatoes
Man arrested for allegedly stealing over $600K in onions, potatoes
Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA TODAYWed, March 11, 2026 at 9:28 PM UTC
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A Florida man was arrested after federal prosecutors said he stole more than $600,000 worth of onions and potatoes in a series of schemes in which he defrauded multiple produce companies.
Jason Canals, 39, was arrested on March 10 and charged with eight counts of interstate transport of stolen property, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Middle District of Florida.
In court records obtained by USA TODAY, Canals is alleged to have perpetrated multiple schemes to defraud wholesale produce companies.
Canals's federal public defender did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Wednesday, March 11.
How did the alleged potato, onion theft schemes work?
According to charging documents, Canals's alleged potato and onion theft schemes ran from August 2024 to August 2025.
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In one instance, Canals is accused of using a company’s name and signature to request produce. Once the shipments of potatoes and onions were on the way, Canals is alleged to have diverted the produce to a new location without paying the produce companies.
In another instance, Canals allegedly falsified documents to make companies believe he had already prepaid for produce, according to court documents.
Between stolen produce and transportation costs, the victim companies lost more than $600,000 from Canals’s alleged schemes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man arrested in connection with over $600K theft of potatoes, onions
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