PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The mother of a man who admitted to illegal grain trades in South Dakota is facing much bigger trouble in Nebraska for similar offenses.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission has issued civil penalties totaling $290,000 against Jan Banghart of Gettysburg for trading grain without a Nebraska license and related activities.

She could have faced penalties of as much as $870,000.

Her son, Jeremey Frost of Onida, signed a settlement in May 2021 for trading grain without a South Dakota license. Frost agreed to pay the maximum penalty of $20,000. That is the most allowed under South Dakota law.

Attorney Rob Konrad of Pierre represented both Frost and Banghart.

Banghart listed herself starting in 2018 as assistant to the CEO at Fearless Grain Marketing, her son’s company. She previously worked for the state Department of Human Services, with her final salary as a division director in 2016 listed as $90,128.

Frost organized Fearless Grain Marketing on May 3, 2017. He later was the only organizer for Fearless Grain Marketing Arbitrage and Storage, a business he formed in 2020.

On October 11, 2021, Banghart filed for fictitious use of the same name, Fearless Grain Marketing Arbitrage and Storage. Frost then terminated his business by that name on October 18, 2021.

The name of the business she used for the illegal Nebraska trades was, according to the Nebraska PSC news release, “Banghart Properties, LLC, a.k.a. Fearless Grain Marketing Storage & Arbitrage, a.k.a. Fearless Grain Marketing, a.k.a. Fearless Grain.”

Said Nebraska PSC chair Dan Watermeier, “This company’s flagrant violation of Nebraska law along with its unwillingness to comply led to the conclusion that this civil penalty is warranted.”