FORT WORTH, Texas – In a case that left a cattle marketing company on the brink of bankruptcy, Tony Eugene Lyon, 52, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for orchestrating a $5 million cattle scheme.
Lyon, a well-known figure in North Texas cattle markets, pleaded guilty in November 2016 to one count of wire fraud. U.S. District Judge John McBryde ordered Lyon to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on April 14, 2017.
According to court documents, Lyon worked as a representative for Midwestern Cattle Marketing (MCM), a cattle brokering company based in Sidney, Nebraska. He convinced MCM to bypass cattle sale barns and purchase cattle directly from him, resulting in a series of fake transactions.
Lyon would send fake invoices to MCM, which would then issue checks to cover the transactions. However, Lyon would use these checks to pay his own debts and personal expenses, causing MCM to suffer a loss of approximately $5,137,449. The company was forced to shut down as a result.
The scheme, which took place from February 2015 to June 2015, was discovered when Lyon wrote a $5.3 million check to purchase cattle from MCM, which bounced due to insufficient funds. Lyon later admitted that neither John George nor GCC, the supposed cattle company he claimed to be purchasing from, existed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson prosecuted the case, with the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducting the investigation.
Lyon’s sentence marks the end of a long and complex case that highlighted the importance of accountability in the cattle industry. The case serves as a reminder that those who engage in such schemes will be held accountable and face severe consequences.
Related Federal Cases
- Tony Eugene Lyon, $5M Cattle Scheme, Texas 2016 · Texas
- Tony Eugene Lyon, Cattle Scheme Fraud, Texas 2016 · Illinois
- Dahlgren Cattle Company, Inc., Malicious Mischief, Nebraska 2007 · Washington
- Matthew Lawrence Bowman, Violating 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(3) and 29 U.S.C. 666(e), Texas 2013 · Louisiana
- Allen Smith, Trafficking Counterfeit Veterinary Products, Texas 2017 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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