Jerry Dean Kulow, 58, of North Richland Hills, was sentenced March 28 in connection with a 2014 cattle theft case in Wise County. Kulow was found guilty by a Wise County judge in September 2016 on third-degree felony theft of livestock. He was sentenced to two years deferred adjudication, and ordered to pay more than $13,000 in restitution to the victim.
Kulow’s arrest, conviction and sentencing followed an investigation by TSCRA Special Ranger John Bradshaw, with assistance from TSCRA Special Ranger Wayne Goodman and Texas Game Warden Chris Dowdy. Special Ranger Bradshaw and TSCRA would like to thank Dowdy and the Wise County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance with the investigation and subsequent conviction of Kulow.
Bradshaw received a phone call from Dowdy on July 2, 2014, about suspicious activity by the suspect. Kulow worked as a ranch foreman for one of the theft victims, a rancher in Boyd.
Kulow’s boss had requested that Kulow sell cattle at the livestock auction on numerous occasions. It was revealed that while Kulow had made many trips to the Cleburne Livestock Auction, records showed he had sold about 95 head of cattle but never gave the proceeds to the owner.
A second victim was having issues with his cattle getting onto the property that Kulow was managing. The property is divided by the Trinity River and was only holding a small volume of water at the time, so the cattle could easily cross the barrier. Kulow’s boss had given him $3,000 for materials to construct a new fence between his and the other victim’s property, but Kulow never built the fence and the location of the money is unknown.
The investigation also revealed that some of the cattle Kulow sold actually belonged to the neighboring rancher. Bradshaw recovered thirty-five cows and seven calves and they were returned to the victim. One bull, five cows, and one calf were later found on a different piece of property north of Boyd. These cattle were also recovered and returned.
In total, Kulow had stolen 144 head of cattle worth about $98,000 from his boss and the neighboring rancher. Kulow was questioned by Bradshaw and he confessed to the crime but never provided information on where the money went. Bradshaw, with the assistance of Goodman, received banking records showing that Kulow had only deposited two checks from the sale of cattle. One check was from Decatur Livestock and the other was from Cleburne Livestock.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association
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