LIMESTONE COUNTY, Tex. (KBTX)- A Limestone County grand jury has indicted a man who investigators say was stealing and selling calves from his employers.
A grand jury has handed down two indictments against TJ Cordova for cattle theft under $150,000. (Limestone County Jail photo)
TJ Cordova is free on $20,000 bond after being indicted in March on two counts of cattle theft under $150,000.
According to the indictments, Cordova stole cattle from two owners at the end of January.
Sheriff Dennis Wilson says Cordova was a day-worker at several ranches in the southwestern part of the county.
"People trust them to be on their property and take care of their cattle, and next thing you know they kind of get taken advantage of, and it's months down the road before they realize what's happening," said Wilson.
The Sheriff says they opened an investigation after receiving a call from one of his employers that some of his cattle were missing.
"Investigators got to checking around and found out that TJ had sold some cattle," said Wilson. "From there, they had a complaint from another individual who isn't from here but has a ranch here, and they started putting the cases together."
Wilson says Cordova was stealing mostly lightweight calves and selling them at various livestock auction houses in the area.
"The timeline is a little bit longer than you're normally used to, so he was able to, over a period of time, take young cattle that didn't belong to him and dispose of them at sale barns before the owner had any idea," said Wilson.
He says between $60,000-$70,000 were sold over time.
"We work our share of cattle thefts--normally it's not to this degree," said Wilson.
Since all the cattle were sold and there's no way of recovering them, Wilson says the court and attorneys involved are currently trying to settle on the amount of monetary restitution to be paid to the ranchers.
The Texas Southwest Cattle Raisers Association assisted in the investigation.
Wilson said Cordova had been cooperative.
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Local ranch hand accused of stealing calves and selling them over time - KBTX
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