Published 6:00 pm Thursday, January 6, 2022
An Eastern Washington federal judge has postponed sentencing Cody Easterday until June 13, giving the ex-cattleman six more months of freedom to settle his contentious bankruptcy case. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian described the ongoing dispute between Easterday, his creditors and his fraud victim, Tyson Fresh Meats, as a “mess.” “I can’t find a better word,” he said on Jan. 6. Easterday, 50, pleaded guilty March 31 to defrauding Tyson out of $233 million. Easterday supplied Tyson with cattle from his feedlot near Pasco. Over several years, he billed Tyson for about 200,000 head of cattle that didn’t exist. Easterday faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and must make restitution. His sentencing already had been postponed twice to give him time to sell farms and equipment through bankruptcy court. Over the objection of the Justice Department, Bastian granted the motion by Easterday’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, for a third delay, pushing sentencing back from Jan. 24. Bastian cited ongoing litigation in bankruptcy court. A trial to allocate more than $200 million from the liquidation of Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches will begin April 18. Tyson and other creditors are seeking the entire pot. Easterday and his wife, Debby, and mother, Karen, claim they are entitled to a share. The trial will sort out ownership of more than 80 parcels of land acquired over three decades by Cody Easterday and his late father, Gale. Only Cody Easterday has the knowledge to help family attorneys prepare, Oreskovich argued. “It’s a monumental amount of work that is necessary,” he said. Bastian agreed to delay sentencing until after the trial. “Mr. Easterday is doing what he promised to do when he pled guilty in this courtroom to try to help clean this mess up,” the judge said. Bastian said he also wanted to sentence Easterday in person, not by video conference, and it’s unlikely that courtroom hearings will resume this month because of COVID restrictions. He also noted that if Easterday had insisted on a trial, the trial would not have started yet because of normal delays. The case is still ahead of most criminal cases, he said. “And that’s because Mr. Easterday pled guilty and has taken the initial steps to accept responsibility for the mess that he created,” Bastian said. Along with the Justice Department, Tyson opposed postponing sentencing. In a court filing, Tyson said Cody Easterday wanted to stay free to steer “tens of millions of dollars in disputed sale proceeds to his mother and wife rather than to creditors.” In a written response, Oreskovich disputed Tyson’s description of the bankruptcy case. The Easterdays cooperated to sell their companies to raise money for creditors, including Tyson, Oreskovich said. The Easterdays face paying $25 million in capital gains taxes, he said. Tyson and other creditors are trying to stick the Easterdays with the tax bill and no money to pay it, Oreskovich claimed.
An Eastern Washington federal judge has postponed sentencing Cody Easterday until June 13, giving the ex-cattleman six more months of freedom to settle his contentious bankruptcy case.
U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian described the ongoing dispute between Easterday, his creditors and his fraud victim, Tyson Fresh Meats, as a “mess.”
“I can’t find a better word,” he said on Jan. 6.
Easterday, 50, pleaded guilty March 31 to defrauding Tyson out of $233 million. Easterday supplied Tyson with cattle from his feedlot near Pasco. Over several years, he billed Tyson for about 200,000 head of cattle that didn’t exist.
Easterday faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and must make restitution. His sentencing already had been postponed twice to give him time to sell farms and equipment through bankruptcy court.
Over the objection of the Justice Department, Bastian granted the motion by Easterday’s attorney, Carl Oreskovich, for a third delay, pushing sentencing back from Jan. 24.
Bastian cited ongoing litigation in bankruptcy court. A trial to allocate more than $200 million from the liquidation of Easterday Farms and Easterday Ranches will begin April 18.
Tyson and other creditors are seeking the entire pot. Easterday and his wife, Debby, and mother, Karen, claim they are entitled to a share.
The trial will sort out ownership of more than 80 parcels of land acquired over three decades by Cody Easterday and his late father, Gale.
Only Cody Easterday has the knowledge to help family attorneys prepare, Oreskovich argued. “It’s a monumental amount of work that is necessary,” he said.
Bastian agreed to delay sentencing until after the trial. “Mr. Easterday is doing what he promised to do when he pled guilty in this courtroom to try to help clean this mess up,” the judge said.
Bastian said he also wanted to sentence Easterday in person, not by video conference, and it’s unlikely that courtroom hearings will resume this month because of COVID restrictions.
He also noted that if Easterday had insisted on a trial, the trial would not have started yet because of normal delays. The case is still ahead of most criminal cases, he said.
“And that’s because Mr. Easterday pled guilty and has taken the initial steps to accept responsibility for the mess that he created,” Bastian said.
Along with the Justice Department, Tyson opposed postponing sentencing.
In a court filing, Tyson said Cody Easterday wanted to stay free to steer “tens of millions of dollars in disputed sale proceeds to his mother and wife rather than to creditors.”
In a written response, Oreskovich disputed Tyson’s description of the bankruptcy case.
The Easterdays cooperated to sell their companies to raise money for creditors, including Tyson, Oreskovich said. The Easterdays face paying $25 million in capital gains taxes, he said.
Tyson and other creditors are trying to stick the Easterdays with the tax bill and no money to pay it, Oreskovich claimed.
