CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina cattle thief “relied on his family’s good reputation in the cattle trading business” when he bought 3,000 cows at livestock markets in the Charlotte area and Virginia, federal prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Everyone accepted William Dalton Edwards’ checks, prosecutors said.
The 25-year-old traded cattle in his own name, as a business called Diamond L. Feeders and as an order-buyer for companies operated by a Texas man.
Edwards and the Texas man drove the cows to Oklahoma and the Lone Star State, where they sold them for $1.1 million, court records show.
All of the checks bounced, according to a July 16 indictment in U.S. District Court in Statesville that charged Edwards with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government — namely, the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
On Friday, Edwards pleaded guilty to the charge and faces up to five years in prison, U.S. Attorney Dena King in Charlotte said in a news release. A sentencing date has not been set, King said.
Edwards pulled off his barnyard theft scheme using the bum checks at family-owned livestock sales barns in Iredell and Cleveland counties, King said.
Iredell ranks No. 1 in the state for dairy cows on farms, with 10,000 head, according to the USDA North Carolina Regional Field Office in Raleigh. Cleveland and Catawba are tied for 10th with 600 milk cows.
Iredell and Cleveland rank a respective fifth and sixth in the state for the number of beef cows on farms — 11,200 in Iredell and 10,500 in Cleveland, according to the USDA.
Edwards’ conspiracy also involved cows at a sales market in Stanly County, according to the bill of information.
Edwards and his co-conspirator sold the cows before anyone realized the checks were bad, court documents show.
“Edwards and his co-conspirator wrote such checks knowing they were worthless, since there were insufficient funds to cover the checks and pay for the cattle,” King said.
The conspiracy stretched from April 2018 to October 2022, according to court documents.
“The sales barns — which are family-owned in North Carolina — incurred these losses because they are required to pay farmers and ranchers immediately after the sale of their livestock,” King said.
Prosecutors don’t name the Texas man in their court filings against Edwards or say if they’ll prosecute him.
The Texas man was already barred from trading cattle, although court records don’t explain why. Because of his ban, he created companies in the names of unsuspecting family and friends so he could buy and sell cattle with Edwards, prosecutors said.
Edwards could not be reached by The Charlotte Observer on Friday.
His lawyer, William Scott Harkey of Winston-Salem, said he was prohibited by N.C. Rules of Professional Conduct from commenting on an active case. The case is active because Edwards hasn’t been sentenced, he said.
“We do have faith in the justice system,” Harkey said.
King thanked investigators from the Secret Service, IRS and U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Iredell and Cleveland county sheriff’s offices.
By Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer (Tribune News Service)