Local mayor appears in court on felony charge for insurance fraud

IDAHO FALLS — A local mayor appeared in court Friday afternoon after being charged with a felony for allegedly lying to insurance agents about what he paid to purchase a boat.

David Dwayne Price, 62, appeared in front of Magistrate Judge Michael Kirkham at the Bonneville County Courthouse for a felony charge of insurance fraud.

RELATED | Local mayor charged with insurance fraud after allegedly lying about the price of his boat

Price’s attorney, Ronald Swafford, and a prosecuting attorney with the Idaho Attorney General’s office, Samuel Camp, were present over Zoom.

Price was informed of his rights, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 27. He did not enter a plea to the charge, and the prosecution declined to request a bond to be placed on him.

Price was sworn in as the mayor of Spencer in Clark County in January 2026. According to 2024 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 19 people live in Spencer.

Background

According to court documents, Price filed a claim on April 29, 2024, for his 2006 Northwest Jet Boat with a Farm Bureau agent, after reportedly running his boat into a sandbar on April 20.

On July 15, a Farm Bureau claims supervisor received a repair estimate from Precision Inc. totaling $149,793.20, which resulted in the boat being determined a total loss.

The Farm Bureau supervisor offered multiple price settlement options, with the highest one being an actual cash value (ACV) of $110,000, and Farm Bureau would keep the boat.

On July 25, the supervisor spoke with the agent, who said that Price may have a bill of sale for that boat. The supervisor informed the agent that the settlement offer was final unless Price could provide proof of add-ons or comps that were the same model and trim as the boat.

On July 31, the supervisor received a handwritten bill of sale which stated Price had purchased the boat from Neal Andrus for $215,000 on Jan. 12, 2022. On Aug. 1, a special investigator with the Farm Bureau spoke with the prior owner of the boat after finding him through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The former owner said he sold the boat to Price for $86,500. The DMV paperwork stated that the boat was sold for $20,000 on Jan. 12, 2022. According to the investigator, Price violated Idaho Code by lying about the price he paid for his boat.

A summons was issued for Price on Feb. 13 of this year and was served on Wednesday. If convicted, Price could face up to 15 years in prison and fines totaling over $15,000.

EastIdahoNews.com reached out to Price, who declined to give a comment at this time. We also reached out to his attorney, Ronald Swafford, but have not heard back.

Though Price has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

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