2nd man indicted in North Carolina in $780,000 cattle-theft case

A federal grand jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, has indicted a 40-year-old man from Muenster, Texas, in a $780,000 livestock theft scheme. He is the second person who has been charged in this case.

Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said that the indictment outlines a conspiracy between Clint Clifford Sicking and William Dalton Edwards, 25, of Mount Airy.

Between April 2018 and October 2022, Sicking and Edwards are accused of having defrauded livestock markets in North Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia. The indictment states that the duo wrote checks for cattle they purchased, knowing the checks were worthless. Before the sales barns and financial institutions could identify the fraudulent checks, the cattle were transported out-of-state and resold in Texas and Oklahoma.

The scheme reportedly led to the fraudulent acquisition of over 900 head of cattle, resulting in more than $780,000 in losses for the affected sales barns. These family-owned businesses, bound by law to pay farmers and ranchers immediately after livestock sales, bore the financial brunt of the scheme.

Sicking faces multiple charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate federal laws, bank fraud, theft of livestock, interstate transportation of stolen livestock, and sale and receipt of stolen livestock. The conspiracy charge carries a maximum prison sentence of five years, while the bank fraud charge could lead to up to 30 years in prison. The livestock-related charges each carry a maximum sentence of five years per count.

On August 2, Edwards pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, with sentencing yet to be scheduled.

In a news release connected to Edwards’ plea, the U.S. Department of Justice called it a $1 million cattle-theft scheme. The reason for the discrepancy in the dollar amounts from the DOJ was not immediately clear.