Texan charged with Iredell County cattle theft in federal case

A federal grand jury in Charlotte has indicted Clint Clifford Sicking, 40, of Muenster, Texas, on charges of involvement in a $780,000 cattle theft scheme. The decision was announced Wednesday (Aug. 21) by Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Sheriff Darren Campbell of the Iredell County Sheriff's Office was among those who announced the decision Wednesday along with U.S. Attorney King.

According to allegations in the indictment and documents in related lawsuits, from April 2018 through October 2022, Sicking conspired with 25-year-old William Dalton Edwards of Mount Airy, North Carolina, to defraud livestock markets, also known as sale pens, in Iredell and Cleveland Counties, North Carolina, as well as in Texas, Oklahoma, and Virginia. The indictment alleges that on numerous occasions during the period in question, Sicking and Edwards purchased livestock from sale pens in North Carolina and wrote checks to pay for the livestock, knowing that the checks were worthless because there was insufficient money to cover the checks and pay for the livestock.

As alleged in the indictment, Sicking and Edwards arranged to transport the cattle out of the country before the defrauded sale barns and financial institutions could determine that their checks were worthless. The stolen cattle were then resold in Texas and Oklahoma. During the course of the fraud, Sicking and Edwards allegedly obtained more than 900 head of cattle and caused more than $780,000 in losses to North Carolina sale barns. The sale barns – which are family-owned – suffered these losses because they are required to pay farmers and ranchers immediately after the sale of their cattle.

Sicking is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the laws of the United States. One of the objects of the conspiracy with which he is charged was to obstruct and hinder the Packers and Stockyard Division of the United States Department of Agriculture in regulating fair livestock markets. Other objects of the conspiracy included a scheme to obtain, by false statements and pretenses, funds from the custody and control of federally insured financial institutions, to steal livestock valued at over $10,000, and to transport stolen livestock in interstate commerce.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Sicking is also charged with bank fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, one count of cattle theft, two counts of interstate transportation of stolen cattle, and two counts of sale and receipt of stolen cattle, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each charged offense. On August 2, 2024, Edwards pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy. A sentencing date for Edwards has not yet been set.