Imprisoned former cattle feeder Cody Easterday’s attorneys filed a brief Monday in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revive a lawsuit claiming Tyson Fresh Meats reneged on a deal to split profits from selling “Cody’s Beef” in Japan.

Easterday, serving an 11-year sentence for defrauding Tyson out of $244 million, alleges Tyson owes him an unknown amount of money for using his name and picture in a joint marketing campaign with Nippon Ham.

Although Easterday billed Tyson for cattle that didn’t exist, the cattle he provided for Cody’s Beef was real, according to the brief.

“Mr. Easterday took responsibility for his wrongdoing by entering a plea of guilty. It is time for Tyson to likewise take responsibility for its own wrongdoing,” the brief reads. 

Easterday’s attorneys are seeking to reverse the lawsuit’s dismissal by Eastern Washington U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian, who ruled that if Easterday and Tyson had an oral agreement it was too vague to enforce.

Bastian also ruled that after defrauding Tyson by billing to procure and feed what prosecutors called “ghost cattle,” Easterday couldn’t claim the company owed him money for a cattle-related transaction.

Easterday sent cattle to Tyson’s beef plant in Pasco, Wash. Over several years, Tyson had paid for about 265,000 head of nonexistent cattle. The scheme was uncovered in late 2020. Easterday filed for bankruptcy and pled guilty to wire fraud.

After liquidating his family’s extensive farming and ranching operations in southeast Washington, Easterday owes Tyson $158.2 million in court-ordered restitution, according to court records.

Easterday owes a second victim, Segale Properties of Tukwila, Wash., $7.1 million. Segale advanced Easterday money to raise cattle.

Easterday, 52, is serving his sentence at a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif.

Tyson: Agreement didn’t exist

Efforts to obtain comment from Tyson were unsuccessful. The company maintains it did business with Easterday Ranches and never had a separate agreement with Cody Easterday related to Cody’s Beef.

Easterday owned 25% of Easterday Ranches, while his wife and mother owned the balance. The business didn’t have the rights to his personality, according to the brief.

If Tyson did not have a separate agreement with Easterday, it violated Washington state law by misappropriating his name and likeness, the brief alleges.

The venture was intended to convince Japanese consumers that U.S. beef was safe from mad cow disease, according to the brief, which includes images and text from the campaign.

Tyson asked Easterday for a “decent mug shot” to put on beef labels. “Seeing the producer’s face through the beef provides a sense of reassurance!” the label read.

Easterday reportedly became somewhat famous in Japan.

Nippon Ham featured Cody’s Beef on its website as late as June 2022, according to the brief, about 15 months after Easterday pleaded guilty.

The alleged agreement over Cody’s Beef goes back to 2013, according to Easterday’s attorneys. He did not demand payment until after his fraud was discovered. Attorneys are seeking a trial to determine how much Tyson allegedly owes.