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Rancher pleads guilty in ‘ghost cattle’ scheme, owes $244 million in restitution Updated 9:41 AM; By East Oregonian MESA, Wash. — A Washington man has pleaded guilty to defrauding businesses out of more than $244 million by charging them under various agreements for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not actually exist, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to court documents, Cody Easterday, 49, of Mesa, Washington, used his company, Easterday Ranches, to enter into a series of agreements with Tys...

Washington ranch co-owner Cody Easterday defrauded Tyson Foods of $233 million and another company of $11 million by selling more than 200,000 head of cattle that only existed on invoices, according to a plea agreement unsealed on Thursday, April 1. Easterday, former manager of the Easterday Ranches feedlot in Pasco, Washington, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of felony wire fraud and faces up to 20 years in prison. He also faces civil charges filed March 31 by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly reporting false or misleading information to the Chicago Mercantile Exch...

Mesa, Wash. — A Washington man pleaded guilty on Wednesday, March 31, to defrauding businesses out of more than $244 million by charging them under various agreements for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not actually exist, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. According to court documents, Cody Easterday, 49, of Mesa, Washington, used his company, Easterday Ranches, to enter into a series of agreements with Tyson Foods and an unnamed second business to purchase and feed cattle on behalf of Tyson. “Fo...

BOARDMAN — Plans to revive Oregon’s second-largest dairy remain unchanged, despite the new owners — a prominent farm family based in Southeast Washington — facing allegations of fraud by Tyson Foods. Easterday Farms purchased the dairy, formerly Lost Valley Farm, in 2019. The family registered a new business in Oregon, called Easterday Dairy LLC, which is now seeking state approval to reopen the dairy in rural Morrow County with up to 28,300 total cattle. But Oregon regulators say they are proceeding with caution and watching closely amid an unfolding scandal involving Eas...