YAKIMA – An area farmer accused of defrauding Tyson Foods earlier this year is fighting back. The Capital Press reports that despite Cody Easterday’s ‘guilty’ plea he has now filed a legal complaint alleging he was the victim of price-fixing, highlighting a Minnesota lawsuit citing Tyson depressed cattle prices. Easterday Farms sold cattle to Tyson from their family-owned feedlot north of Pasco until it was discovered they were billing them for cattle that did not exist. Easterday, who has been ordered to pay Tyson Foods $233 million in restitution, is awaiting sentencing, which will likely levy prison time against the cattleman.
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