Stillwater Man Arrested On Felony Cattle Embezzlement Charges

A Stillwater, Oklahoma, man who owns Perkins Livestock Sales was arrested Tuesday and charged with two felony charges of embezzlement of livestock.

According to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA,) Special Rangers Brett Wellden and Bart Perrier led the investigation. In August 2015, the owner of Perkins Livestock Sales, 38-year-old James Robb Taylor, called Superior Livestock Auction and Oklahoma National Stockyards and placed two orders for cattle to be shipped.

Both loads of cattle were not delivered to Taylor’s sale barn, but were instead taken to other properties and quickly moved to conceal their location, according to investigators. When contacted for payment, Taylor denied purchasing the loads of cattle and claimed his identify had been stolen by an unknown person.

The investigation revealed that Taylor took deliberate steps to conceal the fact that he ordered the cattle and then took additional steps to move the cattle and conceal them in Noble County, Oklahoma. 

Investigators said Taylor then shipped the cattle to various feedlots in an attempt to sell them for profit. The first load consisted of 80 heifers and sold for $110,000, and the second load included 242 head of cattle that sold for $346,582.

Wellden and Perrier arrested Taylor Tuesday. He is being held at the Oklahoma County jail on a $10,000 bond.  This is an ongoing investigation and additional charges are possible, investigators said.