Thanks for visiting www.nwpb.org. Animal welfare and environmentalgroups in Oregon have seized on the scandal to call for a moratorium on large commercial dairies in that state. According to court documents, 49-year-old Cody Allen Easterday of Mesa used his company, Easterday Ranches Inc., to enter into a series of . Both Cody and Gale treated their staff like equals and looked after them like they looked after their own. Cody Easterday, through an attorney, declined to be interviewed for this story. "For years, Cody Easterday perpetrated a fraud scheme on a massive scale, increasing the cost of producing food for American families," Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid said in a news release. 2023 DTN, all rights reserved. Easterday, however, was dead; his Ram decimated. But a longstanding problem was also threatening the businesses: For years, Cody Easterday had been piling up staggering debts gambling on the future price of beef. Shortly after Easterday's massive fraud was uncovered, Easterday Ranches and another of his companies, Easterday Farms, Inc., went into bankruptcy in the matter In re Easterday Ranches, Inc. et al., No. State troopers had the grim task of contacting his family and puzzling over the scene. In addition, Easterday Ranches reportedfalse or misleading information concerning its cattle inventory, purchases, and sales to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in at least two hedge exemption applications seeking permission to exceed the exchanges position limits, federal officals say. And that's a good thing, because he's the only one left driving the price of beef up for the rancher. BF approx. Wa.). Cody Easterday of Mesa, Washington, recently pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding a Tyson Foods, Inc. company out of approximately US$244 million. Feeding America requires scale, its officials say. . But the victory was brief. Its likely that Easterday flew down to California in a private jet. It was a particularly confusing stretch, and not an uncommon error for the spot. The CFTC's complaint stated Easterday amassed more than $200 million in losses during a 10-year period, trading cattle futures on both his personal and business accounts. "Through the wielding of immense market power, resulting from acquisition and consolidation, defendant has created a monopsony market in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S. -- being Washington, Oregon, and Idaho -- whereby cattle feeders in that region have no reasonable choice but to contract with defendant despite the anti-competitive, unfair, abusive, unjustly discriminatory, and deceptive acts and practices of defendant, including as to pricing, contract terms, and contract performance.". This scheme was unraveled through rigorous and diligent investigative work with our law enforcement partners, and the FDIC-OIG remains committed to helping preserve the integrity of the banking sector., Producing and providing false invoices and information on goods and services never delivered, were the fundamental key in defrauding an American multinational company out of hundreds of millions of dollars, said Inspector in Charge Delany De Len-Coln of the U.S. Tyson Foods claims the Pasco, Wash., ranch billed for fictitious cattle and feed. He carried out the whole scam with fake invoices and paper over years. This is how a guy in Greenwich, Connecticut, can come to be placing bets on tens of thousands of pounds of cattle without ever setting foot in a feedlot. The criminal case and connected Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Easterday Ranches Inc. and Easterday Farms could lead to the liquidation of an extensive family farm operation in eastern Washington involved in cattle feeding, as well as having 22,500 acres of potatoes, onions, corn and wheat in the Columbia Basin. After that, anyone curious to see the old Easterday farm would need an airplane and a bit of time. As of Dec. 25, 2020, Tyson's net worth was $23.59 billion, so it comes as no surprise that the company reported that the loss caused by Easterday Farms' misrepresentations will have no material impact on the company's financial results from 2017 through 2020. Within a week, he pleaded guilty to the charges, agreed to pay $244,031,132 in restitution and began awaiting sentencing for possible jail time. Easterday used the fraud proceeds for his personal use and benefit, and for the benefit of Easterday Ranches, including to cover approximately $200 million in commodity futures contracts trading losses that Easterday had incurred on behalf of Easterday Ranches. The Easterday Farms fresh onion facility at on North 1st Avenue in downtown Pasco. Continue Reading Cody Easterday sentenced to 11 years in prison for cattle fraud scam, A contentious hearing was held on the bankruptcy case of the Easterday empire. Postal Inspection Service and its law enforcement partners to protect consumers and businesses from duplicitous practices. The farm encompasses 18,000 acres of potatoes, onions, corn and wheat; all grain products produced are used to feed cattle in the Easterday Ranches feedlots. As beef industry heavyweights go, Tyson has few equals. [But] I find in nearly every circumstance. And it is not always a ruinous position to be in. Farmers Awarded for Innovative Ag Ideas, Cattle Scammer Easterday Alleges Tyson Committed Antitrust Violations in Lawsuit. Williamson says some rustlers start out with a small theft that just keeps growing. The meat inside might come from different farms, be raised in different ways, or vary in quality. Farmland Reserve Inc., owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, bought several Easterday farms in Benton County in July for $209 million. Then, in January, Tyson filed suit against Easterday Ranches to reclaim the money. According to court documents, Cody Easterday used Easterday Ranches to enter into a series of agreements with Tyson and another company to purchase and feed cattle. If the price was bad, he was stuck for the loss. An accurate count of cattle is essential to cracking the case of Easterday Ranches and Easterday Farms two arms of the large Easterday family empire, which Tyson Fresh Meats has accused. One of her colleagues bought a grocery store to capture more money on his beef. And we're sitting here going, 'We can't pencil that, that doesn't work.'" Resolved: Release in which this issue/RFE has been resolved. But before long, white papers began to point to formula contracts as a key driver of the falling rates of pay. The land is southwest of Boardman in Oregon, where much of what's for rent is owned by another real estate investment firm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 4 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The ranch was mammoth by Northwest standards. Over the following year and a half, Easterday's companies and their assets, including large amounts of real . Not all features of DTN / The Progressive Farmer may function as expected. Grow your production, efficiencies, and profitability. Easterday alleges Tyson has "misused its economic power over cattle feeders and contracts," in violating the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, and the Washington State Consumer Protection Act. Continue Reading Cattlegate: Alleged Massive-Scale Easterday Heist Is The New Brand Of Cattle Rustling The Easterdays are described as one of the largest farming and ranching families in Washington State, with cattle feed yards and more than 18,000 acres of farming growing potatoes, onions, corn and wheat. Thank you for your continued support of public broadcasting in our region. In those corrugated metal shops where Gale Easterday spent his last day running errands, he was on a first-name basis with the owners of the local enterprises there. But Easterday quickly lost another $18 million. The plane used to be owned by Easterday Farms, but now a LLC called Fly Lo out of North Carolina, owns the craft. It's also why the beef business is consolidating among ranchers like the Easterdays, who instead of raising a few hundred head of cattle on rangeland, raised them by the tens of thousands in feedlots. Rowan's knowledge of the beef industry helps him manage the risk at his cattle-fattening enterprise while the guy in Greenwich takes on a share of risk, too. They employed hundreds of workers in their packing plants and on the ranch and farm, and contracted crews for seasonal labor. How the scheme worked And because no one can know what the market price of beef will be in some months, he never knew whether he would break even. Tyson officials point to these benefits as perks of the current system. Officers who questioned the driver found him badly shaken. Tyson's inquiry quickly revealed that at least 200,000 head of cattle purported to be in the care of Easterday Ranches were, in fact, made up. As a result of the scheme, Tyson and Company 1 paid Easterday Ranches over $244 million for the purported costs of purchasing and feeding these ghost cattle. 2023 DTN, all rights reserved. But at the end of the day, it is bought, packaged and shipped by the same few actors. Much smaller packing companies operating in most cases on a fairly local, or regional basis instead of a national basis.. After cattle were slaughtered and sold at market price, Easterday Ranches would repay the costs advanced and retain as profit the amount by which the sale price exceeded the sum repaid to Tyson and the second company. But this capitalistic pursuit scale is a primary reason why so many ranchers are going out of business, especially when drought and the high price of hay add other pressures. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 4 and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Easterday pleaded guilty in federal court. The Commission will vigorously prosecute fraud committed in connection with derivatives trading, including making false statements to exchanges to exceed the applicable limits on their positions,Acting Director of Enforcement Vincent McGonagle said in a statement. . And cattle change hands three or four times in their lifespan. Gale was the heart of the family business at Easterday Farms, known for his signature cowboy hat and keen sense of humor. The Easterday family, based in Mesa, on Feb. 1 filed bankruptcy papers for Easterday Ranches, listing debts of more than $236 million to its top 20 creditors. In 2009, Tyson and Easterday discussed the possibility of increasing capacity at his feedlots. Cattle are also really hard to track: brands burned into their side can be rebranded, and ear tags can be removed. It has a history of environmental violations under a former owner and may never get the permits it needs. He also was ordered to pay the full restitution of $244. Peel says cattle are sitting ducks. The USDA suggested one possible fix could be to create more trading tools for smaller ranchers, allowing those with fewer cattle to get in on the trading game. The onions and potatoes. Because they were based on false or misleading information, the hedge exemptions were invalid. Some of the fake invoices included pen numbers, the animals' gender, even a financial analysis of their prospects in the market. Northwest rancher Cody Easterday recently turned himself in to a minimum security prison camp at Lompoc just south of Santa Maria, California. Cody Easterday, 51, pleaded guilty last year in a so-called "ghost cattle" scam that federal prosecutors called "one of the largest thefts in Washington history." The head of a massive Central . And a recent $225 million alleged cattle heist involving Easterday Ranches and Tyson Fresh Meats in Washington is one of the largest cases in U.S. history. The old adage is if it doesnt sound right or feel right, its probably not right.. By spring of 2020, formula contracting ballooned to 70% of the market for cattle, more than double what it was 15 years earlier. Tyson Foods has agreed to a significant settlementbut not admitted guilt in the ongoing chicken price-fixing scandal. Both. Easterday alleges in a lawsuit filed this week in the U.S. District Court for the District of Eastern Washington, that Tyson took advantage of Easterday Ranches' limitations as to where the company could sell its cattle. For fuel, for machinery, for fertilizer and things like hay. Scott Williamson supervises investigations of everything from cattle theft to stolen saddles in Texas. And because of their market heft, these corporations increasingly influence how the products are made and the prices paid to ranchers to make them. Sort of. So far, Easterday has paid about $66 million in restitution. Farm Progress is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC. From steer wrestling to barrel races, they were fixtures in arena box seats and in the community, too. Cody Allen Easterday is serving an 11-year prison sentence in Los Angeles on wire fraud, after pleading guilty to conducting a $233 million ghost-cattle scheme that included allegedly raising. Easterday carried out one of the largest cattle swindles in U.S. history, from near Pasco, in Washington state. Usual earnings are around $300 a day. On Monday, Easterday Farms Inc., which is the crops-producing side of the family business, filed its own petition. of making false statements to an exchange, and violating exchange-set position limits. Easterday now is set to be sentenced Jan. 24 in Richland's Federal Building. Claiming Easterday Ranches conducted a "fire sale" of one of its feedlots just days before filing for bankruptcy, Tyson Foods asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Washington this week to appoint a trustee to take control of the Easterday estate. The corporation soon disclosed as much to shareholders, along with its own overstated financials. The family had scrambled for what last money it could. Farmland Reserve is operated by the Mormon Church. Though the company hired a quarter of Easterday Farms' staff and rebooted many of their family's contracts in the community, the transition to investor ownership could mean fewer donations to the county fairs, local Republican candidates and other causes the Easterdays championed. Welcome to the new digital home of Northwest Public Radio and Northwest Public Television. Tyson passed on providing an interview or any comment on Easterdays incarceration. Several Easterday farms in the Columbia Basin have been sold through bankruptcy court for $209 million to Farmland Reserve Inc., owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Theyre easy to move, Parkers says. It's still one of the most shocking stories to come out of eastern Washington, one that still puzzles our community. Apr. The sentencing of Washington cattleman Cody Easterday for defrauding Tyson Fresh Meats out of $233 million has been delayed until early next year to give him time to help liquidate his family's. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners. According to Tyson's recently filed 8-K form, this supplier represents roughly 2 percent of the total cattle supplied to Tyson's beef segment for fiscal 2017 through 2020. Two more cars were struck by flying debris, their occupants mostly unscathed. Still, few small business owners wanted to talk about the money Easterday owed them. The family had launched Easterday Ranches along the way, a "finishing operation" that raised cattle from weaning to the slaughterhouse after four or five months of fattening. According to court documents, Farm Reserve Inc. was the stalking horse bidder on the Easterday properties. HOME | Easterday Farms Gale Easterday, 79 passed away on Dec. 10, 2020. These kinds of losses also hit the corrugated metal shops. As a result, federal officials say Easterday Ranches violated exchange-set position limit violations on at least two occasions. Cody Easterday was due to report to Continue Reading Blue Christmas: Cody Easterday will likely spend his Christmas in federal prison, The sentence that came down for Cody Easterday Tuesday concludes one of the biggest cattle rustling cases in the history of the West. Easterday was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Yakima to 11 years in prison. Maybe the daily ingenuity involved in running the farm and ranch the deal-hunting and the thirst for productivity explains a little of why Cody Easterday fell prey to the allure of betting everything his family built. Easterday received reimbursement from the companies for the purported purchase and raising cattle the company never actually bought.