Special to IFN
A Mount Airy man who participated in a fraudulent scheme to steal livestock from sales barns in Iredell and Cleveland counties has been sentenced to two years in federal prison.
William Dalton Edwards, 26, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $334,350.46 to the victims of the scheme.
Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced the sentencing in a news release. Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell joined him in the announcement, along with other local and federal law enforcement officials.
According to court documents and court proceedings, from April 2018 to October 2022, Edwards and his co-conspirator, Clint Clifford Sicking, conspired to defraud livestock markets in Iredell and Cleveland counties. The investigation determined that on multiple occasions Edwards and Sicking purchased cattle from sales barns. To pay for the cattle, Edwards and Sicking wrote checks that were worthless, knowing they did not have sufficient funds to cover the checks.
Court records show that Edwards and Sicking arranged to transport the cattle out-of-state before the defrauded sales barns and financial institutions could determine their checks were worthless. The stolen cattle were then resold in Texas and Oklahoma.
Over the course of the scheme, Edwards and his Sicking caused over $350,000 in losses to sales barns in North Carolina. The sales barns—which are family-owned—incurred these losses because they are required to pay farmers and ranchers immediately after the sale of their livestock.
On August 2, 2024, Edwards pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States and to violate the laws of the United States. One of the objects of the charged conspiracy was to hamper and impede the Packers and Stockyard Division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in its regulation of fair livestock markets. Other objects of the conspiracy included a scheme to obtain funds under the custody and control of federally insured financial institutions through false statements and representations; to steal livestock valued at more than $10,000; and to transport stolen livestock in interstate commerce. Sicking has also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and is awaiting sentencing.
In making today’s announcement, Ferguson commended the USDA-OIG, the U.S. Secret Service, IRS-CI, Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and Iredell County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case. Ferguson also thanked the Stanly County District Attorney’s Office, the Packers and Stockyard Division of the USDA, and the Texas Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Rangers for their assistance.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael E. Savage of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.