Cattle Thief Pleads Guilty

EMORY – A man accused of not paying for cattle at 7 East Texas auction markets in 2011, is heading to prison. Ronald Ryan Shepard Jr., 41, in an appearance in state district court in Emory, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft of livestock. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay court costs, attorney’s fees and more than $125,000 in restitution to his victim in Texas. As a part of the plea agreement, he also agreed to pay restitution of $200,000 to a victim in Florida in lieu of extradition and criminal prosecution in that state.

In March 2012, he faked his own kidnapping and went on the run. It was discovered that multiple states had, or were in the process of issuing, arrest warrants for Shepard. He was also wanted by federal authorities after violating his federally-supervised release on bank fraud charges. It was learned that he had fled to Mexico and was hiding out in Mazatlán, where he was arrested and extradited by U.S. Marshals in July 2012.

Upon his return to the U.S., Shepard faced indictments in a variety of federal and state courts. He has since pled guilty to federal or state livestock related charges in Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Texas. Texas was the final jurisdiction to receive custody of Shepard.