2009-12-17

Cattle rustler sentenced to 20 years in Williamson County

Contributed

A four-year cattle theft investigation recently came to an end after a Williamson County judge sentenced a Hopeton, Oklahoma man to 20 years in prison for stealing more than 1,000 head of cattle worth almost $700,000.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Rangers Hal Dumas, Ben Eggleston and former TSCRA Ranger Chad Barfknecht worked the investigation along with the Texas Rangers and deputies with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office and the Woods County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma.

On Nov. 9, 2009, Monte J. Sharp, 49, was found guilty of stealing more than 1,000 head of cattle, a first degree felony, from Capitol Land and Livestock Company located in Schwertner, Texas. The theft occurred in August 2005.

Sharp ordered the cattle from Capitol Land and Livestock Company but never paid for them. Once the cattle were delivered to Sharp, he immediately reloaded the cattle and took them to feedyards in Kansas and Oklahoma, where he put them in his name and used them as collateral to borrow money from those feedyards. He used the stolen money to buy more cattle.

“Mr. Sharp was a modern day cattle rustler, and in Texas, as you can see, we don't take too kindly to cattle rustling,” said Jim Schwertner, president and CEO of Capitol Land and Livestock Company. “If it wasn't for the TSCRA Special Rangers and their passion for investigating these crimes, Monte Sharp would have never been caught and prosecuted.

“As soon as I found out that I had been robbed, I called TSCRA and they immediately went after this guy. I hope this sends a strong message to any would be cattle rustlers to not mess with Texas. If you steal cattle in Texas, you will get caught,” Schwertner continued.

TSCRA has 29 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and-or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association is a 132-year-old trade organization and is the largest livestock association in Texas. TSCRA has more than 15,000 members who manage approximately four million head of cattle on 51.5 million acres of range and pasture land, primarily in Texas and Oklahoma.

TSCRA provides law enforcement services, livestock inspection, legislative and regulatory advocacy and educational opportunities for its members and the industry.