A federal judge on April 12 gave Cody Easterday’s attorneys 45 days to sharpen their allegations that Tyson Fresh Meats broke an oral contract to share profits from selling “Cody’s Beef” in Japan.

U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian stated in a written order he will dismiss the lawsuit unless lawyers can provide more facts to justify hauling the Arkansas-based company into an Eastern Washington courtroom.

The complaint lacked important details, such as who from Tyson approached and negotiated with Easterday, and where the photos for the campaign were taken, according to Bastian.

Easterday will file a new complaint, attorney Charley Macedo said in an email.

“The court articulated the additional information it is seeking to be included (in) an amended complaint. We intend to provide an amended complaint with those items,” he said.

Tyson declined to comment on the order.

Easterday is serving an 11-year term in a federal prison in Lompoc, Calif., for defrauding Tyson out of $233 million. Easterday fattened cattle for Tyson’s plant in Pasco, but billed for more cattle than he delivered.

Easterday repaid some of the money by selling his family’s farming and ranching empire in southeast Washington through bankruptcy court. He still owes Tyson $177.1 million in court-ordered restitution.

Since he was sentenced in October, Easterday has sued Tyson twice. Tyson has yet to respond to a suit alleging unfair business practices.

The “Cody’s Beef” suit alleges Tyson reneged on an oral contract to share profits from a joint venture between Tyson and Japanese food conglomerate Nippon Ham.

Bastian’s ruling didn’t address the core issue. It concerned only whether the suit has a strong connection to Tyson’s activities in Washington.

Tyson argued Cody’s Beef was trademarked in Japan, labeled in Japan and sold in Japan, so Tyson’s suit-related conduct was unrelated to its Pasco plant or cattle-feeding agreements with Easterday Ranches.

Easterday’s attorneys argued the cattle were raised in Washington and that Nippon Ham executives toured Easterday’s feedlots. They also claimed Tyson packaged Cody’s Beef in Washington for shipment to Japan.

Easterday apparently relied on Tyson’s beef plant to establish the company’s connection to Washington, but the suit was not about meatpacking, ruled Bastian, who sentenced Easterday in the fraud case.

A hearing was set for April 19 in Yakima on Tyson’s motion to dismiss the suit, but Bastian canceled the hearing and issued his order based on written briefs.

Besides the two suits against Tyson, Easterday has yet to settle a civil complaint brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly filing false reports with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Easterday schemed to defraud Tyson to cover more than $200 million lost betting on the cattle futures markets, according to the complaint.

Easterday misreported cattle inventories and sales figures to further his speculation, the complaint alleges.