MJP –
A North Carolina man has pled guilty to a conspiracy charge connected to a complex cow theft that nearly bankrupted livestock markets, costing over $1 million. The 25-year-old Mount Airy resident William Dalton Edwards confessed to being a pawn in the multi-state and multi-year fraud scam.
Between April 2018 and October 2022, the heists took place, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Edwards and his accomplice knew their bank accounts couldn’t handle the sums they wrote for the purchase of livestock, so they carried out the ruse by writing repeated rejected checks. To avoid being caught by the sale barns and banks that had been bilked, these cattle were swiftly moved across state boundaries and resold mostly in Oklahoma and Texas.
Companies controlled by families in North Carolina, Virginia, and Texas took a major financial hit as a consequence of this maneuver, which led to the acquisition of over three thousand cattle.
The court records show that the fraudulent actions were done to derail the efforts of the United States Department of Agriculture to control and guarantee fair markets for cattle.
Edwards plotted against various federal agencies, including the Packers and Stockyard Division, which was responsible for this particular oversight. In addition to the conspiracy accusation, the criminal aspects of the plot included the theft of livestock valued at over $10,000 and their transportation throughout the states.
Although Edwards’ sentencing is still pending, the offense carries a potential punishment of five years in prison. Despite the conviction, he is still free on bond and there is no solid sentencing date in the works.
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United States Attorney Denis J. King commended the joint investigation by the USDA-OIG, the United States Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigations Unit, and the sheriff’s offices of Cleveland and Iredell counties following Edwards’ guilty plea.
This case, brought to light by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Savage of the Charlotte office, serves as a sobering reminder of the delicate nature of farming communities, which are largely dependent on the honesty and reliability of their members.
