The owners of a Homestead, Fla.nursery have sown the seeds of lengthy prison sentences afterexecuting a con that siphoned a cool million from a federaldisaster fund.

On May 29, Yaima Perez, 28, and her husband, Sergio Perez, 49,pleaded guilty to conspiracy, filing false claims, wire fraud andaggravated identity theft in connection with bogus claims forhurricane-related damages.

The Perezes defrauded a federal disaster-relief program that wasestablished to provide financial assistance to nursery producersthat suffered inventory losses and cleanup costs in the wakes ofHurricanes Katrina, Ophelia, Rita and Wilma.

According to prosecutors, the duo used stolen identities ofother nursery producers to file fraudulent damage claims andeven used false state agriculture certificates.

Moreover, federal court records reveal the U.S. Department ofAgriculture paid the sizable claims and that more than $500,000 ofthe resultant payments were deposited to Yaima Perez's bank accountto later be transferred to a Costa Rican company controlled bySergio Perez.

Perez went a step further, later admitting to transferring$700,000—which he accepted from multiple farmers who drew from thefederal nursery program—to Costa Rica in order to buy land. Husbandand wife then padded their accounts with another $100,000.

Each party faces up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing isscheduled for August.