Lynch Livestock Execs Sentenced in $3M Pig Fraud Scam

Lynch Livestock, Inc., an Iowa-based corporation, and four of its managers have been handed down substantial sentences in a federal court after being convicted of a massive pig fraud scheme that defrauded livestock producers across the Midwest out of millions.

The Lynch Family Companies, Inc., doing business as ‘Lynch Livestock,’ pleaded guilty on July 29, 2022, to one count of Failing to Comply with an Order of the Secretary of Agriculture. The company was sentenced to five years of probation, fined $196,000, and ordered to pay over $3 million in restitution to affected livestock producers and farmers.

Billie Joe Wickham, 51, of Waucoma, Iowa, one of the corporation’s managers, faced charges of Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, a fine of $3,000, and three years of supervised release on January 13, 2023.

Charlie Lynch, 65, from Fort Atkinson, Iowa, also admitted to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. He received five years of probation and a fine of $3,000 at the same hearing. Leland ‘Pete’ Blue, 60, of Fredericksburg, Iowa, faced similar charges and was sentenced to five years of probation and a fine of $1,000.

Tyler Thoms, 31, from Fayette, Iowa, pleaded guilty to Causing a Livestock Dealer to Keep Inaccurate Accounts and Records. He received one year of probation on January 13, 2023.

The scheme, which began in the early 2000s and lasted until at least late March 2017, involved manipulating the weights and quality classifications of swine delivered to Lynch Livestock’s buying stations. False scale tickets were created to pay producers less than what was owed. Evidence of fraud was regularly destroyed, a pattern that became apparent during the investigation.