WASHINGTON, DC - A man from Washington state faces up to 20 years in prison after admitting to swindling Tyson Foods and another company out of $244 million.
Court documents show Cody Easterday charged the companies for buying and feeding hundreds of thousands of cattle that did not exist.
The scheme lasted for four years between 2016 and late last year.
Easterday pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of wire fraud and agreed to repay $244,031,132 in restitution. He is scheduled to be sentenced on August 4th and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“For years, Cody Easterday perpetrated a fraud scheme on a massive scale, increasing the cost of producing food for American families,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Criminal Division’s prosecutors are committed to swiftly and thoroughly prosecuting frauds affecting our nation’s agricultural and other commodities markets, whether in the heartland or on Wall Street.”
Easterday used the money he swindled for his personal use and benefit, and for his company, Easterday Ranches. The used the money to cover $200 million in commodity futures contracts trading losses his company experienced. In connection with the trading, Easterday also defrauded the CME Group Inc. (CME), which operates the world’s largest financial derivatives exchange.
(Image from Tyson Foods Facebook page)