Perkins, Okla. – A Stillwater, Okla. man, who owns Perkins Livestock Sales, was arrested Tuesday and charged with two felony charges of embezzlement of livestock.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Rangers Brett Wellden and Bart Perrier led the investigation.
In August 2015, the suspect and owner of Perkins Livestock Sales, James Robb Taylor, 38, of Stillwater, Okla., called Superior Livestock Auction and Oklahoma National Stockyards and placed two orders for cattle to be shipped.
Both loads of cattle were not delivered to Taylor’s sale barn, but were instead taken to other properties and quickly moved to conceal their location. When contacted for payment, Taylor denied purchasing the loads of cattle and claimed his identify had been stolen by an unknown person.
The investigation revealed that the suspect took deliberate steps to conceal the fact that he ordered the cattle and then took additional steps to move the cattle and conceal them in Noble County, Okla.
The suspect then shipped the cattle to various feedlots in an attempt to sell them for profit. The first load consisted of 80 heifers and sold for $110,000, and the second load included 242 head of cattle that sold for $346,582.
Wellden and Perrier arrested Taylor Tuesday, and the suspect is being held at the Oklahoma County jail on a $10,000 bond. This is an ongoing investigation and additional charges are possible.
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TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
TSCRA is a 138-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 17,000 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.