The operators of a central Missouri livestock company have been ordered to pay $804,000 for their role in a cattle scam involving farmers in several midwestern states.
The Missouri attorney general’s office alleged in 2006 that M.J.L. Cattle Co. of New Franklin promised healthy, high-quality cattle to farmers in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska but instead provided cattle that were skinnier, sick or of different breeds.
Some cattle also were falsely advertised as pregnant, which would fetch a higher price.
The attorney general’s office said Wednesday that a Howard County judge has ordered five people to pay a total of $561,000 restitution and $243,000 in civil penalties. The attorney general’s office identified them as Mitchell Leonard, Peggy Morrow, Lance Neff, Robert Simmons and Jason Hackman.
They also were ordered to permanently end any involvement in livestock sales in Missouri.
Morrow, Hackman and Simmons all either pleaded guilty or were convicted of criminal fraud charges in 2007. Morrow was sentenced to five years probation; Hackman was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution in the criminal case; and Simmons was sentenced to six months of house arrest, the attorney general’s office said.
