Cody Easterday sentenced to 11 years in prison for cattle fraud scam
Read
Almost two years ago, Easterday confessed to swindling meat companies of hundreds of millions of dollars for the care and feeding of nonexistent cattle. After he came clean, Easterday worked with the bankruptcy court to sell off most of his family’s massive farm and ranch empire.
“It’s all come to a collapse,” Judge Stanley Bastian said in the courtroom Tuesday before sentencing Easterday to 11 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref said the $244 million Easterday stole was the largest amount in a criminal fraud case in the district of Eastern Washington.
“It’s very critical that we send a message to the community that this type of fraud — almost a quarter of a billion dollars — is taken seriously,” Waldref said.
Easterday’s lawyer Carl Oreskovich had argued for a lighter sentence, saying Easterday had been a community stalwart to the local 4-H kids, his workers and his family.
“He’s somebody that has helped everybody. And this is something that he’ll take hard,” Oreskovich said.
After the sentencing, Easterday’s supporters filed out of the courtroom silently.
Related Stories:
Mountain bike nonprofit cultivates new trails for riders
Volunteers gather for a trail dig on Moscow Mountain. (Credit: Phineas Pope / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:32) Read On a cloudy Sunday morning, a large group of volunteers with axes,
‘Feria Linda’ helps vineyard workers shine
One of Feria Linda’s volunteer manicurists works on a vineyard worker’s nails. (Credit: Susan Shain / NWPB) Listen (Runtime 3:37) Read The Milton-Freewater Community Building looked like the backstage of
University of Idaho polling location sees Election Day difficulty
Huge voter turnout and same-day registration caused long delays at UI Student Rec Center