Perkins Sale Barn Owner Arrested For Embezzling $450K In Livestock

A Stillwater man who owns Perkins Livestock Sales was arrested on Tuesday for embezzling nearly a half-million dollars worth of cattle.

James Robb Taylor, 38, has been charged with two felony counts of embezzlement of livestock.

According to the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA,) Taylor called Superior Livestock Auction and Oklahoma National Stockyards this month and placed two orders for cattle to be shipped.

Neither load of cattle were delivered to Taylor’s sale barn, but they instead were taken to other properties and quickly moved to conceal their location, according to special rangers who investigated the case. When contacted for payment, Taylor reportedly denied purchasing the loads of cattle and claimed his identity had been stolen by an unknown person.

Rangers say their 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. 

Taylor shipped the cattle to various feedlots in an attempt to sell them for profit, according to TSCRA.

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.

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