Nebraska Man Sentenced for Cattle Theft

JEFFERSON CITY, MO—David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Smithfield, Nebraska man has been sentenced in federal court for a cattle scheme in Callaway County, Missouri.

Allen John Foos, 48, of Smithfield, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan on Thursday, September 27, 2012, to two years and 11 months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Foos to pay $244,676 in restitution to his victims.

On January 23, 2012, Foos pleaded guilty to causing stolen livestock to be transported across state lines. Foos admitted that he used an alias to order cattle from the Callaway Livestock Center using order buyers (middlemen). In some cases, Foos obtained the cattle and then sold them without paying the sale barn. In other cases, Foos eventually paid the sale barn for the cattle by using the proceeds from a later cattle transaction. The amount of loss in the cattle scheme totaled $244,676.

For example, according to his plea agreement, Foos purchased 167 head of cattle using the alias of J&M Cattle Company of Shelton, Kansas. A $116,944 check for payment bounced; although $49,995 was later paid by wire transfer, the remaining balance has never been paid. This is the transaction related to the specific charge contained in the April 4, 2011, indictment to which Foos pleaded guilty.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Packers and Stockyards Administration, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.