Cody Easterday’s attorneys are seeking to cut the ex-cattleman’s sentence for fraud by almost three years, pointing to a recent change in federal sentencing guidelines that reduced terms for first-time offenders.

Easterday filed a motion Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington to shorten his 11-year sentence, preferably to 8 years, one month.

Justice Department prosecutor John Scanlon met with Easterday attorneys and agreed Easterday qualified for a shorter sentence under new guidelines adopted by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, according to court records.

The sides could not agree on a reduction, attorney Carl Oreskovich declared in a court filing. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Easterday, 52, was the head of his family’s farming and ranching empire in Eastern Washington. The family’s operations included a contract to procure and fatten cattle for the Tyson Fresh Meats plant in Pasco.

He pleaded guilty in 2021 to defrauding Tyson out of $233 million by billing the company for 265,000 head of “ghost cattle” that didn’t exist. Easterday defrauded a second victim, Segale Properties of Tukwila, out of $11 million.

Easterday blamed his criminal conduct on a gambling addiction that led to massive losses betting on the future price of cattle. He began serving his sentence in late 2022 and is at a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif.

Federal inmates are eligible to receive credit for good behavior and participating in prison programs. Easterday’s current release date is in mid-November 2031, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Prison accomplishments

Easterday has been busy and productive while in prison, according to his attorneys. He completed a 500-hour master mechanic program and a 1,000-hour agribusiness vocational program.

His attorneys filed a letter from the prison’s farm manager that recommended Easterday and other inmates receive a $100 bonus for working weekends and evenings to harvest lima beans.

Easterday, who liquidated his farms in bankruptcy court, has paid $78.6 million in restitution. If given the chance, he will work to pay the rest of his debt to his victims, according to the motion.

“Mr. Easterday is humiliated and remorseful for his conduct. He presents no risk of recidivism,” the motion reads.

Under guidelines in place at the time of his sentencing, Easterday faced a term between 10 years, one month and 12 years, seven months. U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian handed down a sentence closer to the lower end.

Under the new guidelines, Easterday would have faced a sentence between 8 years, one month and 10 years, one month.

Easterday’s attorneys are asking for the minimum sentence within the new range. Lacking that, they asked Bastian to proportionately sentence Easterday to 8 years, 10 months.

More than 11,000 prisoners nationwide will be eligible for reduced sentences, according to the Sentencing Commission. The first day judges could shorten sentences was Feb. 1.

In a separate court battle, Easterday is suing Tyson, claiming the company reneged on an oral contract to share profits from selling “Cody’s Beef” in Japan. Tyson denies the allegations.

Bastian dismissed the suit. Easterday has appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.