Federal prosecutors oppose shortening Cody Easterday’s sentence by 35 months, arguing the ex-cattlemen’s term should instead be cut by at most 11 months to conform with new sentencing guidelines.

Prosecutors filed a brief Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington responding to Easterday’s motion to reduce his 11-year sentence for fraud to eight years, one month.

U.S. attorneys John “Fritz” Scanlon and Ian Garriques agreed Easterday qualified for a shorter sentence under guidelines approved last year by the U.S. Sentencing Commission that reduced terms for first-time offenders.

But cutting the sentence by more than one-fourth would set a bad example to other would-be white collar criminals calculating whether the gain is worth the risk, according to Scanlon and Garriques.

“The enormity and audacity of Easterday’s crimes has understandably captured the attention of both the public, generally, and members of the cattle and farming industries specifically,” the brief reads.

Easterday, 52, supplied cattle for the Tyson Fresh Meats beef plant in Pasco, Wash. By billing to procure and feed more than 265,000 head of “ghost cattle” over four years, Easterday defrauded Tyson out of $233 million.

A second victim, Segale Properties of Tukwila, Wash., invested in Easterday’s cattle-feeding operation and was defrauded out of $11 million.

Easterday was sentenced to 132 months. His attorneys are seeking the minimum 97-month sentence called for under the new sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors are seeking the guidelines’ maximum 121-month sentence.

Defense lawyers argue Easterday is a hard-working, self-made and now remorseful man, who admitted his crime, seeks to repay his victims and has been a productive inmate at the federal prison in Lompoc, Calif.

Prosecutors acknowledge Easterday has done well in prison, took responsibility for his crime and helped sell his family’s farming and ranching empire in Eastern Washington to make partial restitution.

“But such conduct does not excuse the more than four years of dishonesty and sheer magnitude of his fraud,” according to Scanlon and Garriques.

Easterday pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, forgoing a trial. The fraud was massive and brazen, according to prosecutors.

In an example cited by Scanlon and Garriques, Easterday Ranches sent Tyson invoices on one day in May 2020 for 6,312 head of “ghost cattle,” causing the company to pay $5.3 million for non-existent cattle.

The ranch reported to Tyson in November 2020 that it had 296,535 head of cattle. Some 263,780 head were listed in “Loc 99,” the “secret, internal designation” for phantom cattle, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors call Easterday the product of “extreme privilege,” who turned to fraud rather than facing up to losses totaling $200 million betting in commodity markets on the future price of cattle.

The motion to shorten Easterday’s term is in front of U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian, who sentenced Easterday. Bastian said the fraud was the biggest he had seen as a judge.

Federal inmates earn credit for good behavior and participating in programs. Easterday has taken courses in mechanics and agri-business and worked on the prison farm. He is scheduled to be released in November 2031.