KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A federal grand jury has indicted a Cameron, Mo., father and son in a $1 million farm conspiracy to sell sick and old cattle, and a second hay-selling scheme to sell thousands of bales of moldy and poor-quality hay to desperate farmers across 11 states – including Missouri, Illinois and Iowa – during one of the worst Midwest droughts a few years ago.
Hundreds of farmers fell victim to the schemes, buying unhealthy cattle and much-needed hay from ads placed on Craigslist and hayexchange.com by the two suspects, according to the lengthy 15-count indictment.
"This was a very difficult time for farmers. There was the severe drought and the farmers had to drive across the country looking for quality hay to feed their cattle," a U.S. attorney’s spokesman said.
Mark Henry, 50, of Cameron, and his son Mark Henry Jr., 28, of Lucerne, were charged in a multi-count indictment on June 10 by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, following an investigation led by an FBI and Missouri state law enforcement task force.
In an FBI statement, the indictment says the two suspects sold more than $3.2 million of hay, which was advertised as "excellent brome, orchard and timothy hay … big heavy bales; however, most of the hay consisted of weeds, sticks, bushes, small trees, briars, thistles and woody stems; some of it moldy and of very poor feed quality." More than $2.3 million of hay was sold from 2010-12.
One example outlined in the 28-page indictment tells the story of a Stuart, Iowa, farmer identified as A. Dudley. Dudley learned from fellow farmers that the Henrys were selling "net wrapped grass hay." After speaking to the Henrys, he ordered 100 net wrapped bales, and on Dec. 21, 2011, sent them an $8,100 check.
Dudley was disappointed, however, when he received his first shipment of nine bales that were "string wrapped" not "net wrapped" as he ordered, and that fell away when unloaded. A second load of 30 bales he received was also "string wrapped" and fell apart too when unloaded.
He requested his money back but the Henrys refused. Sixty-one other bales he ordered were never delivered, and Dudley reported a loss of $4,941, the indictment says.
Another Iowa victim identified as P. Moore was a farmer from Earlham who found the Henrys on the aforementioned exchange website. According to the indictment, Moore mailed a $4,410 check to Henry Farms for 63 bales, at $70 per bale. Moore received just 47 bales of the order, which were satisfactory, he told investigators – but he said never received the remaining16 bales.
Presented to the grand jury by U.S. Attorney Tammy Dickinson for the Western District of Missouri, the indictment also alleges "that the Henrys purposely shorted farmers and failed to provide all of or a portion of the hay to their customers in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wyoming and New Mexico."
Among other charges, the two failed to pay two hay-trucking companies "Glaser Trucking Service of Liberty, Mo., $53,400, and Action Transit Co. (location not identified) $4,400, even though the monies were collected (in advance) from the farmers."
The Henrys had advertised shipping costs of $2.50 per load mile to deliver the hay," the charges said, which was much less than normally charged. "However, those farmers who contracted with the Henrys to haul the hay were charged almost 40 percent more than the advertised price," investigators found.
Following the illegal hay scheme that ended in late 2012, the Henrys launched a second conspiracy. Between December 2012 and February 2013, the pair advertised on Craigslist and in local newspapers the sale of cattle.
"The cattle was advertised as ‘front pasture’ young cows, from the age of four to six." However, the indictment continues, "most of the cows were much older and worth less than the younger cows. The Henrys sold 389 head of cattle to farmers from Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa, for approximately $538,700" – or approximately $1,384 per cow.
To verify the health condition of the cattle, federal authorities brought in a licensed veterinarian who examined 221 cows and determined the age and condition of 199 were "misrepresented." The majority of the cows, the doctor found, were worth less than the price charged "and was overinflated by $300 to $400 each."
The indictment outlines in striking detail more than 70 victims. Eight were supported in eight counts of wire fraud that charged the Henrys with stealing more than $250,000, citing one victim from New Mexico who wired $195,000 to them to purchase 3,000 bales of hay urgently needed for his starving cattle. He never received a single bale.
The indictment also calls for the forfeiture of $861,932 and any property illegally obtained by the Henrys. The FBI led the three-year investigation with support from the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control, which helped track down victims, and from the Putnam Country sheriff’s and prosecutor’s offices.
The Henrys will have their first court appearance later this month following their self-surrender to the FBI. No court dates have been set. If convicted, the two face up to 20 years in prison. The Henrys could not be located for comment.
