Tony Eugene Lyon, $5M Cattle Scheme, Texas 2016

FORT WORTH, Texas – In a brazen scheme that cost a Nebraska cattle brokering company $5.1 million, Tony Eugene Lyon, 52, of Fort Worth, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud in November 2016, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Lyon, a well-known figure in the North Texas cattle markets, orchestrated the scheme to defraud Midwestern Cattle Marketing (MCM), a cattle brokering company based in Sidney, Nebraska. According to court documents, Lyon worked as a representative for MCM in North Texas, buying and selling cattle on behalf of the company at local sale barns.

However, in early 2014, Lyon convinced MCM to bypass the sale barns and purchase cattle directly from him, claiming it would save them money. MCM provided Lyon with checks and a signature stamp, allowing him to purchase cattle without authorization. Lyon would then send MCM a handwritten invoice, along with a computer-generated invoice, and deposit an MCM check into his account.

From February 2015 to June 2015, Lyon represented to MCM that George Cattle Company, owned by John George, had purchased cattle from MCM at least 130 times. But in reality, Lyon maintained control of all aspects of the transactions, setting sales prices and timing payments to MCM. He used the company’s money to pay personal debts, loans, and family expenses, causing his account to be continually overdrawn.

As the deficit grew, Lyon wrote and deposited MCM checks into his account, causing insufficient funds. He eventually wrote a $5.3 million check to purchase cattle from MCM, claiming John George would cover the NSF check. However, the account remained overdrawn, and Lyon later admitted that neither John George nor George Cattle Company existed.

The scheme caused MCM to suffer a loss of approximately $5.1 million, forcing the company to go out of business. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson prosecuting the charges. Judge John McBryde ordered Lyon to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on April 14, 2017.

Lyon’s scheme was a brazen example of white-collar crime, exploiting the trust placed in him as a representative of MCM. His sentence serves as a warning to those who would engage in similar deceitful practices, and we hope it brings some measure of justice to the victims of this crime.

Case No.: CR-16-001

Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas

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