The owner of a custom butcher shop in Idaho is accused of felony racketeering charges stemming from her alleged theft of at least $33,000 of cattle and money.

The prosecutor in Idaho’s Adams County has charged Sara Ann Willey, owner of Cuddy Mountain Custom and Specialty Meat, with six counts of racketeering and grant theft by false promise and unauthorized control.

According to the criminal complaint, Willey defrauded several cattle producers by promising to pay for cows valued between $1,000 and $22,000 after they’d been butchered “when she had no such intention.”

The criminal complaint also alleges Willey transferred butchered beef without the authorization of its owners and accepted money in exchange for beef she never intended to deliver.

Deputy investigated

The charges are based on an investigation by a sheriff’s deputy who interviewed alleged victims and reviewed their text messages, emails and other communications with Willey earlier this year.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the deputy also executed two search warrants at the butcher shop in Council, Idaho, and spoke over the phone with Willey, who referred questions to her attorney.

Isaiah Lee Govia, Willey’s attorney, told Capital Press his client would be exercising her right to remain silent during the criminal proceedings.

Willey was arraigned on the charges last month, though the court docket doesn’t specify if she was taken into custody or released on bail. Govia refused to answer questions about her custody status and Willey did not respond to requests for comment.

Victims say they lost money

Stewart Russell, a dairy owner near Emmett, Idaho, who the criminal complaint alleges lost $22,000, said the case has forced him to be less trusting of potential buyers for his cull cows.

“One time is enough to cure you of that. It’s definitely changed the way I do business,” he said.

Russell said he now requires potential buyers to immediately deposit half the payment for beef purchases and doesn’t allow the butcher to release the meat until all the money is paid.

Willey’s butcher shop had served wild game outfitters who Russell knew, leading him to ship cattle to her business without first demanding payment in early 2022, he said.

“Lo and behold, the checks didn’t arrive,” he said. “I have a laundry list of excuses she gave.”

Russell said he tried recovering the money owed to him through civil court but eventually realized it’d be fruitless, given the liens already imposed on Willey’s scant assets.

“You’re throwing good money after bad at that point,” he said.

JJ Nelson, a feedlot owner near Payette, Idaho, who’s also named as a victim in the complaint, said Willey took advantage of cattle transactions often relying on “handshake business.”

“It’s kind of on the honor system,” he said. “I totally changed my perspective. I would never do business like this again, ever.”

Chapter 11 petition

Meanwhile, Willey’s company had petitioned to restructure its business under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, but that request has been dismissed at the request of the federal government.

Cuddy Mountain Custom and Specialty Meat had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year and listed Stewart, Nelson and others as civil litigants against the business.

Willey originally claimed her company owed roughly $425,000 in debt to fewer than 50 creditors and owned about $320,000 in real and personal property, but later revised the amount of assets to $16,500.

Over the summer, the Office of the U.S. Trustee — a division of the U.S. Justice Department that oversees bankruptcies — filed a motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 petition.

The motion cited the company’s downward revision in asset values, inadequate responses to questions, problems with monthly operating reports and lacking revenues.

The U.S. Trustee said these and other factors indicated “continuing loss and absence of a reasonable likelihood of rehabilitation,” as well as the lack of a “good prospect for future revenues or any appreciable assets with which to fund a Chapter 11 plan.”

“Additionally, debtor’s inadequate reporting and lack of responsiveness to the court and interested parties do not instill confidence regarding debtor as a fiduciary,” the U.S. Trustee said.

Objection filed

An attorney for the company filed an objection, saying any failures to comply with reporting requirements “have been largely outside of its control,” given the “continued harassment” of Willey by “multiple creditors” who wanted to “frame” her as a “criminal” for “acts that would legally constitute business conduct.”

Willey’s reputation has been “dragged through the mud” and she’s had to “defend herself from accusations of criminal conduct” even though the alleged activities were carried out by her company, the objection said.

Despite these arguments, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Noah Hillen agreed with the U.S. Trustee there was “good cause” to end the case and issued an order dismissing the Chapter 11 petition last month.