Washington rancher pleads guilty to stealing $244M in ‘ghost cattle’ scam By Kristin M. Kraemer, Tri-City Herald
Published: March 31, 2021, 7:15pm
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PASCO – The president of one of the largest agricultural operations in Washington state has admitted concocting a scheme to defraud Tyson Foods and another company out of more than $244 million.
Cody A. Easterday, 49, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in a case that federal prosecutors are calling a “ghost-cattle scam.”
Easterday, who’s also chief executive officer of Easterday Ranches Inc., charged the two companies under various agreements for the costs of buying and feeding 200,000 cattle, when those cattle did not actually exist, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Man pleads guilty to cocaine trafficking in relation to 2018 incident in Deerfield
DAWSON
Published: 3/1/2021 6:50:52 PM
GREENFIELD A 32-year-old man was sentenced to three years in a Massachusetts prison after pleading guilty to a cocaine trafficking charge Monday afternoon.
Speaking from the Essex County Jail in Lewis, N.Y., Stephon Dawson appeared before Franklin County Superior Court Judge Jane Mulqueen via the online video and audio conferencing platform Zoom.
Mulqueen asked Dawson a series of questions to ensure he understood his rights before accepting the guilty plea, which was the recommendation of First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne, who is prosecuting the case, and defense counsel Stephen Shea.
Massachusetts' top court on Friday abolished an "unnecessarily confusing" alternative standard used by juries to determine whether a health care provider caused a patient's injury, and ruled that because a jury was instructed using the traditional standard a new trial was not warranted in a suit over a patient's death.
For Tri-State Livestock News
At the end of January, Tyson Fresh Meats filed a lawsuit against one of the largest farming and ranching families in Washington, Easterday Ranches, in an effort to recover losses from fictitious fed cattle sales and feed costs. Additionally, Tyson was hoping to recover 54,000 head of cattle still standing in an Easterday feedlot north of Pasco, Wash. The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Superior Court in Pasco.
On Feb. 1, days after Tyson sued Easterday Ranches, the ranching operation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court. Official Form 204 in Easterday Ranches’ bankruptcy filings lists 20 of their largest unsecured claims. The top unsecured claim comes from Tyson Fresh Meats with at least $225 million. The second largest unsecured claim comes from Segale Properties at $8,647,408.57. All 20 unsecured claims add up to $236,671,645.