FORT SMITH -- An Arkansas man faces 382 criminal charges after an investigation conducted by special rangers with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and investigators with the Arkansas Agriculture Department, authorities said Monday.
On Oct. 9, Jay Lee Parker, 43, of Waldron surrendered to the LeFlore County sheriff's office in Oklahoma on one of the counts, which was knowingly receiving stolen property (cattle), according to a news release from the association. Parker was then booked into the Leflore County jail and was later released on a $30,000 bond.
Special Ranger Bart Perrier, who led the association's portion of the investigation with the assistance of another special ranger, Kenneth Wadsworth, said Parker had a one-year contract with a Texas rancher to care for 435 cows and 61 calves. However, near the end of the contract period in the fall of 2018, the rancher "discovered a substantial portion of the cattle under Parker's care were dead or unaccounted for," according to Perrier.
Parker sold 54 head of cattle at the LeFlore County Livestock Auction in Wister, Okla., according to the news release. He received nearly $30,000 that should have gone to the ranch owner, the authorities said.
Officials said they believe that Parker sold 29 head of the rancher's cattle at the Waldron Livestock Market. Numerous other cattle "died due to poor living conditions and neglect by Parker," the news release stated. Because of that, two charges for theft of leased property over $25,000, and 379 counts of cruelty to animals were filed in Scott County in Arkansas, according to the news release. Parker was arrested on those charges May 20 and was freed on bond afterward.
Billy Black, chief of law enforcement for the Arkansas Agriculture Department, led the investigation in Arkansas, the release stated.
If convicted, the release stated that the charge in Oklahoma could result in a sentence of three to 10 years in prison and fines for Parker. In Arkansas, the two theft charges carry a penalty of six years apiece, and every animal cruelty charge could land him in prison for up to a year.
State Desk on 10/31/2019