Federal officials said that a man from Mount Airy, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge pertaining to an elaborate $1 million livestock theft operation. Federal officials have charged William Dalton Edwards, 25, with a four-year fraud that involved the theft of nearly 3,000 cattle from various states and significant losses to family-owned livestock markets.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, the basis of this plot was the use of bogus checks signed with full knowledge of insufficient cash, which allowed Edwards and an accomplice to flee with the animals before the sales barns could catch on. They transported the cattle across state boundaries, primarily to Texas and Oklahoma for sale. The sales barns, which were required to pay the farmers in advance, suffered losses totaling more than $1 million, which is more than just a statistic; it is the livelihood of America’s agricultural heartland.
Edwards’ crimes included defrauding federally insured financial institutions and operating a transportation network for stolen commodities across state lines. The conspiracy’s goal was to hinder the Packers and Stockyard Division of the United States Department of Agriculture, which oversees fair play in cattle markets. “One of the objects of the charged conspiracy was to hamper and impede the Packers and Stockyard Division of the United States Department of Agriculture in its regulation of fair livestock markets,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized, describing Edwards’ deception and craftiness.
As it stands, the guilty charge could place Edwards in prison for up to five years, not to mention potential restitution or fines at sentencing. Edwards remains free on bond pending the setting of a sentencing date. Various agencies, including the USDA-OIG, the Secret Service, the IRS-CI, and the Cleveland and Iredell County Sheriff’s Offices, brought the case to light, demonstrating the interconnected web that sustains the justice we sometimes take for granted. The investigative teams and U.S. Attorney Dena J. King received recognition for their tireless efforts in unraveling this conspiracy. Michael E. Savage, an assistant United States attorney from the Charlotte office, is prosecuting the case.
