Rustler jailed for 99 years for stealing herd of 400

A DIE-HARD cattle rustler, with a record of theft spanning a decade, has been jailed for 99 years in America after swindling a rancher of his herd.

Carl Wade Curry, 44, from Athens, Texas, was found guilty of stealing 400 cows worth more than $200,000 (£122,000) last year.

District attorney Staley Heatly said Curry placed an order with a Mississippi man using a fake name and cattle company in Vernon, where the owner shipped the cows.

The owner contacted authorities when he did not receive payment.

A jury in Hardeman County took less than 30 minutes to both convict and sentence Curry. In the deal Curry used the name Earnest Jackson.

“He was going to mail me a cheque and he didn’t,” rancher David Sanders of Starkville, Mississippi, said. “Then he was going to Federal Express it to me. Didn’t happen.”

Mr Sanders had already shipped the cattle to a non-existent address in Hardeman County.

When Mr Sanders did not get paid he called the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. A special ranger with the association located the animals before they were sold.

“They really put their noses to the grindstone and got this guy good,” Mr Sanders said.