Ghost Herd Update in Tyson’s Q3 Report

In March, Cody Easterday pleaded guilty to a $244 million fraud in a ghost cattle scam. He confessed to Tyson officials that he used the stolen money to cover losses from trading commodity futures.

Did you notice this item in the third-quarter results from Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale?

Under the summary of segment results for beef, the protein producer reported: “Additionally, operating income in fiscal 2021 was impacted by a $55 million gain from the recovery of cattle inventory related to a cattle supplier’s misappropriation of Company funds.”

Tyson, of course, was referring to Cody Easterday, the rancher from southeast Washington who pleaded guilty in March 2021 to defrauding Tyson of $233 million and an unidentified company of $11 million.

But his sentencing has been delayed several times after he argued that he needed extra time to assist in matters related to the ongoing bankruptcy reorganization of his Easterday Ranches Inc. and Easterday Farms GP.

Stanley A. Bastian, chief U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of Washington, has agreed to the request. Easterday’s sentencing is set for Sept. 19 in Richland, Washington.