By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

OXFORD, Ohio — Fernand Lee Allart of Liberty Township, Ohio, is accused of tipping the scales in his favor at Tri-State Livestock, according to the Butler County Sheriff’s office.

Allart is facing two felony counts and two misdemeanor counts involving theft and deception. He is accused of intentionally attaching magnets on scales to reduce weights. The scam worked to change the weight of cattle in the defendant’s favor and his company. The company and the owner have been dealt with separately through ODA and were not criminally charged.

“Someone made a complaint – I assume it was someone selling cattle at this place of business – to the ODA and they investigated it,” said Sheriff Richard K. Jones. “They caught the gentleman in the act of putting the magnets on the scale, and he and the place of business were sanctioned.”

On June 1, 2010, ODA Inspector Michael Stanton was at Tri-State Livestock, according to Tony Forshey, ODA chief of the Division of Animal Industry. Inspector Stanton saw Allart putting something on the beam scale he was operating. Stanton retrieved a magnet from the scale. As a result ODA proposes to deny Allart’s renewal for a livestock weigher’s license.

The case went to the prosecutor’s office; the auditor’s office was also involved because they periodically check the scales and put the sticker on them, Jones said.

“The scales were fine – he was just pulling the weight and making them (the livestock) weigh less and he was paying them less,” Jones said. “At that point the warrant was served, and we arrested him. He is going to have his day in court.”

“As bad as the economy is, farmers have to contend with bad weather, the middle-man making the money and raising the prices and now you have people trying to rip off the farmer,” Jones said. “It is like a triple whammy. This type of behavior will not be tolerated in Butler County.”

Jones cautioned farmers in these hard economic times to pay attention when they take something to the scale.

“He got caught and this will send a message to anybody else that is doing this—they don’t know who is going to be watching them next time,” Jones said. “As the sheriff I’m going to keep an eye on it and I encourage anybody that has any complaints to call the sheriff’s office.”"