14 CapitalPress.com
March 10, 2017
Rancher pleads guilty in theft of cattle
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
JEROME, Idaho — A Je-
rome rancher pleaded guilty
to one count of grand theft in
district court on Monday for
branding as is own and selling
about 99 head of cattle be-
longing to a California man.
Jason D. Anderson was
initially charged with eight
counts of grand theft, six
counts of obtaining a brand
certificate with false informa-
tion and one count of unlaw-
ful branding by the Jerome
County prosecuting attorney
in July 2016, according to
court documents.
The single felony count of
grand theft is a compilation
of the other counts of grand
theft, said Doug Nelson, An-
derson’s attorney.
The criminal activity took
place between the fall of 2011
and January 2015 and in-
volved shorthorn cattle owned
by Gary Marchi, a resident of
California.
In his plea, Anderson
agreed to pay restitution to
Marchi at a value to be deter-
mined for 43 cows, 17 calves
and one bull he sold in 2012
and the sale of 18 calves born
in 2012 and 20 calves born in
2013.
In Monday’s hearing,
Judge Eric Wildman asked
Anderson why he was plead-
ing guilty.
Capital Press File
A Jerome, Idaho, rancher pleaded guilty Monday to the theft of
cattle belonging to a California man.
“Because I sold the cattle,”
Anderson said.
Grand theft carries a pen-
alty of up to 14 years in pris-
on and a fine of up to $5,000,
Wildman said, adding that the
court is not bound by the plea
agreement.
Anderson had said he
would comment in person
after the plea hearing but on
Monday said that on the ad-
vice of his lawyer he wouldn’t
comment until after his sen-
tencing, which is scheduled
for May 1.
Nelson also declined to
comment but said, “I will
have a lot of comment at sen-
tencing; this is not as simple
as it sounds.”
Marchi alleged in a phone
interview there were more
cattle involved than stated
in the plea agreement, but
“if you can’t track the sales,
you’re out of luck.”
Marchi, who raises pas-
tured cattle for beef, said he
sent the majority of his cattle
to Anderson in Idaho because
he lost all his rental pasture
in California when the land
was sold. He had never met
Anderson but made his ac-
quaintance through another
cattleman.
The cattle he lost through
the alleged theft — which
he estimated at more than 60
cows, two to three calf crops
and other calves — are val-
ued at more than $400,000,
he said.
The lesson is “don’t ever
trust anybody,” he said.
Unable to come to Idaho
to check on his cattle because
his parents were dying and he
was dealing with all that en-
tails as well as his own busi-
ness, Marchi said he called
Anderson from time to time
and Anderson would always
tell him everything is fine.
Marchi’s registered herd
was the result of a long-term
breeding program, which
earned recognition for quality
and consistency, and some of
his cattle had won awards, he
said.
“I won’t live long enough
to get the genetics back. It’s
not just the money; it’s all I’ve
worked for my whole life,” he
said.
Court documents show
Marchi had 64 cows and
calves and two bulls trans-
ported to Anderson in June
2011 after the cattle were vac-
cinated and cows were preg-
nancy checked.
Anderson told investi-
gators he branded Marchi’s
cows with his own brand in
the fall of 2011 because he
was renting pasture and could
only run his own cattle there,
according to court records.
In July 2012, Anderson
sold one cow and one bull at
Marchi’s request and sent the
payments to Marchi, who lat-
er sent two more bulls to An-
derson.
In January 2013, Marchi
mailed his branding iron to
Anderson so he could brand
calves, but Anderson told in-
vestigators he never used the
brand, according to court re-
cords.
In several phone calls,
Marchi told Anderson he
needed steers sent to Califor-
nia for butchering. In June
2014, Marchi mailed a check
to Anderson for pasture and
feed as he did every month
— or on occasion, every other
month — and included a note
requesting Anderson ship any
steers weighing 1,000 pounds
or more to California.
Marchi received no re-
sponse and on Oct. 5, 2014,
called Anderson, who didn’t
answer, and left a message
asking Anderson to call him
back.
The following day, An-
derson called Marchi and
told him a deputy sheriff and
another man came and took
all of Marchi’s cattle, stating
there was a lien against them.
He said he was given a paper
but couldn’t find it.
Marchi contacted Idaho
State Brand Inspector Larry
Hayhurst, who in turn contact-
ed the Idaho State Police in
early November 2014 to open
an investigation of the theft of
approximately 63 cows and
calves and two bulls.
That investigation re-
vealed civil action in district
court against Anderson and
his wife relating to loans by
the Idaho Agricultural Cred-
it Association. In December
2014, an officer of Idaho Ag
Credit told a state police de-
tective the civil action was
satisfied with the forfeiture of
cattle, according to an affida-
vit by State Police Detective
Ken White.
White stated paperwork of
transactions show Anderson
sold Marchi’s cattle through
the Twin Falls Livestock
Commission, Burley Live-
stock Auction and Jerome
Buying Station and had five
steers butchered by Scarrow
Meat and sold the beef.
At the times of the sales,
Anderson purported owner-
ship of the cattle to the state
brand department. All of the
Marchi cattle sold either had
Anderson’s brand or no brand,
and Anderson did not send
any of the money from the
sales to Marchi, telling detec-
tives Marchi owed him mon-
ey for the upkeep of the cattle,
White stated.
Copies of checks provid-
ed by Marchi show Anderson
continued to receive and cash
or deposit checks from Mar-
chi after the last of the cattle
were sold, White stated.
Winter delays Washington fruit tree pruning, bloom
By DAN WHEAT
Capital Press
WENATCHEE, Wash. —
Fruit tree pruning is taking
longer and bloom of all tree
fruits and cherry harvest like-
ly will start a couple weeks
later than last year in Central
Washington, all because of
a winter that doesn’t want to
end.
More snow dumped in the
Cascade Range on March 7
and fell all day without accu-
mulating in lower elevations
such as Wenatchee. Such win-
ter weather is in the forecast
for the region for four to six
weeks.
“No cherries in May prob-
ably is a good thing because
there’s less chance we will
compete with California
cherries in the marketplace,”
said Andy Gale, general
manager of Stemilt AgSer-
vices in Wenatchee. Stemilt
AgServices manages more
than 8,000 acres of orchard
throughout Central Washing-
ton as a subsidiary of Stemilt
Growers, a large fruit compa-
ny in Wenatchee.
Washington cherry harvest
usually starts in early June.
But it began in late May the
last two years because of
warm springs. Beside a more
normal start time, it looks like
Photos by Dan Wheat/Capital Press
Montezuma Rubio stands on a ladder to prune Red Gala apple trees at Piepel Orchard in East Wenatchee, Wash., on March 6. A colder winter than seen in several years
has put some growers behind schedule in pruning.
there will be a better spread
of harvest timing throughout
the region this year instead
of high volumes ripening in a
short window, Gale said.
“We’re behind like every-
one else, but we brought a
few more H-2A (visa foreign
guestworkers) up (from Mex-
ico) so we’re getting after
it,” Scott McDougall, presi-
dent of McDougall & Sons,
Wenatchee, said of pruning.
There’s more time to prune
because cold weather held
back bud development so
“our company is in reason-
ably good shape,” McDougall
said.
Several growers, including
Jesus Limon of Wenatchee
said they also were aided by
getting a jump on pruning last
fall as soon as trees went dor-
mant and before winter cold
and snow.
“I’m probably five to six
days behind (on pruning),
which is not real bad. We
were shut down two to three
weeks in December and Jan-
uary because of snow and
cold,” Limon said.
Mike Robinson, general
manager of Double Diamond
Fruit Co., Quincy, said snow
was over his knees and too
deep for pruning platforms
to operate in January. He said
his crews usually finish prun-
ing March 1 but will be going
until April 1 this year.
“It’s deceptive to say we’re
a month behind because we
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got a jump on it in the fall,” he
said. He’s on target given the
lateness of the season, he said.
“I was spraying (pre-
bloom pesticides) at this time
last year, but I’m four weeks
away now,” said Jim Keller,
orchard operations manager
of Apple King, Yakima.
Bloom was just 10 days
apart from the Tri-Cities to the
upper Yakima Valley last year
because of heat and this year’s
spread will be a more nor-
mal three weeks to a month,
Keller said.
Fruit tree buds are begin-
ning to swell at Apple King’s
Royal Slope orchard where
there is no snow, but the com-
pany’s Tieton ranch, elevation
2,000 feet, still has one-and-a-
half feet of snow, he said.
Spring frost danger to buds
and fruit is heightened by pro-
longed winter, Keller said.
Bud development may be
three weeks later than last
year, Gale said. It will be later
in northern and higher eleva-
tion orchards, he said.
Stemilt has 500 H-2A
workers now to help with
pruning and will peak at 1,200
H-2A workers from cherry to
apple harvest this year, com-
pared to about 900 last year,
as more high-density plant-
ings require more labor at
critical times, Gale said.
Gale and Keller said
they are concerned about
the Trump administration’s
crackdown on criminal illegal
immigrants scaring off do-
mestic workers.
“But most of what is hap-
pening now is just media hype
trying to stir things up,” Keller
said. “All my pruning crews
are as big as I want and are
domestic workers. Other com-
panies bring in H-2A workers
and hopefully it continues to
leave us the domestics.”
He said workers also are
staying because he’s paying
more. The company is pay-
ing in the $12 per hour range
because of the state minimum
wage being $11, he said. Ap-
ple King’s piece rate equates
to $14 to $15 per hour but
doesn’t really cost more be-
cause of what workers pro-
duce per acre, he said.
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