Cattle Theft=30 Years in Prison

Clinton Easter of Eastland County, was convicted on Thurs. Jan. 28 of two first degree felony cattle theft charges in Coleman County and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

He will serve 30 years confinement concurrently on each case. Easter had also been charged with the same of similar offenses in Eastland, Comanche and Stephens counties.

Easter confessed to the crimes and Coleman County District Attorney Heath Hemphill prosecuted the case.

Easter was found guilty after an investigation, led by  Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association http://www.tscra.org/(TSCRA) Special Rangers Joe Roberts and H.D. Brittain, revealed he was responsible for the thefts. TSCRA Special Rangers Wayne Goodman, Marvin Wills and John Bradshaw assisted with the investigation.

Roberts said additional prosecutions are expected to be handed down in this case.

TSCRA would like to thank the following for their assistance with this investigation: Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) Texas Rangers, Eastland County Sheriff’s Department, Coleman County Sheriff’s Department, Comanche County Sherriff’s Department, Brown County Sheriff’s Department and the Cisco Police Department.

“Through the teamwork of TSCRA Special Rangers, law enforcement authorities and District Attorney Hemphill, we were able to send a clear message that cattle theft comes with extremely severe consequences,” said Roberts. “I appreciate those who worked with us throughout the investigation to make sure justice prevailed.”

TSCRA has 30 special rangers stationed strategically throughout Texas and Oklahoma who have in-depth knowledge of the cattle industry and are trained in all facets of law enforcement. All are commissioned as Special Rangers by the Texas Department of Public Safety and/or the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

TSCRA is a 139-year-old trade association and is the largest and oldest livestock organization based in Texas. TSCRA has more than 17,000 beef cattle operations, ranching families and businesses as members. These members represent approximately 50,000 individuals directly involved in ranching and beef production who manage 4 million head of cattle on 76 million acres of range and pasture land primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, but throughout the Southwest.