Kansas Cattle Buyer Cleared of Fraud Charges
On May 5, a Kansas cattle buyer was cleared of all criminal charges by a federal judge.
U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten found that the prosecution did not present enough evidence for the case to go to a jury trial. The court granted a defense motion to acquit Randall D. Patterson and the Anthony Livestock Co.
Patterson was accused of wire fraud by federal investigators when he allegedly faxed invoices to JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding with falsely inflated cattle prices. A total of 14 fraudulent invoices were found to have been sent to Patterson’s customers during the initial investigation.
Defense attorney Kepler Funk shared in a news release they were happy with the outcome and their client is innocent.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office had nothing to add when asked for comment by the Associated Press.
