April 18, 2016
By Paul Joseph, Paragon Communications News Director –
Two area men have been arrested and charged with the cattle rustling of 22 head from ranchers in Oklahoma and Texas.
Two area men have been arrested and charged with the cattle rustling of 22 head from ranchers in Oklahoma and Texas.
The two Oklahoma men were arrested last week in Beckham County and charged with larceny of domestic animals and knowingly concealing stolen property after stealing the cattle.
Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, TSCRA, Special Ranger Ben Eggleston led the multi-state investigation, involving multiple different law enforcement agencies.
The first suspect, 25-year-old Colby Ryan Smith of Carter, also has an outstanding warrant out of Wheeler County Texas for theft of livestock. The second suspect, 26-year-old Ryan James Guidry of Sayre was arrested for his involvement in the theft and charged out of Beckham County for larceny of domestic animals.
Eggleston said the investigation began in October of 2015 when a victim reported he had 8 head of cattle missing from his ranch in Wheeler County Texas. The investigation revealed Smith turned 8 head of cattle out on a Beckham County rancher’s pasture without permission. The cattle were branded with an “E” making it easy to identify the cattle and that they belonged to the victim who reported them missing in October, 2015. These cattle were recovered and returned to the victim.
In November 2015, Eggleston received a call from the Woodward Livestock Auction. A woman advised that the second suspect, Guidry had allegedly brought 10 head of heifers to the auction to be sold. She said Guidry was waiting in the parking lot for his check. The livestock auction employee was suspicious because Guidry was waiting around outside of the sale barn and calling to pick up the check for cattle that had not even sold yet.
Eggleston received a call from a second victim saying he had 14 head of cattle missing. Eggleston said the description of the cattle matched the cattle that Guidry had taken to the livestock auction. After investigating, authorities were able to positively identify the cattle as 10 of the 14 head stolen from the victim.
The investigation revealed the cattle Guidry took to the sale were allegedly stolen by Smith. Guidry told authorities that Smith raised the cattle and they belonged to him.
Guidry has been released from the Beckham County Detention Center on a $25-hundred dollar bail bond while Smith remains in jail on approximately $125-thousand dollars involving a number of charges including possession of a controlled, dangerous substance and defacing serial numbers on farm machinery.
No court dates have been set for either of the two men according to online court records.
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