South Dakota Farmer Awarded $1.1-Million Judgment
A Parkston, SD, farmer was awarded $1.1 million against a former Watertown cattle seller for fraud and deceit in the misrepresentation of the origin of a cattle shipment to his farm.
June 14, 2013
A Parkston, SD, farmer has been awarded $1.1 million against a former Watertown cattle seller for fraudulently misrepresenting the origin of a shipment of cattle to his farm.
In what investigators from the State of South Dakota’s Animal Industry Board described as one of the “most complex and wide-ranging schemes” they had confronted, Parkston farmer Curtis Huether accused David Bisson of fraudulently misrepresenting the origin of a shipment of cattle to his farm in 2008. Bisson’s fraud resulted in Huether’s cattle being quarantined for approximately eight months. Huether also claimed that Mihm Transportation Co., an Iowa trucking company, was involved in a conspiracy to further Bisson’s fraud.
Huether was awarded approximately $100,000 in damages and $1,000,000 in punitive damages against Bisson. On Friday, after a week-long trial, a Hutchinson County jury also found that the Iowa trucking company committed civil conspiracy in the case.
Huether was represented by Scott Swier, Senior Partner at Swier Law Firm, Prof. LLC of Avon. “This was a complex case involving numerous ‘moving parts,’ so we are pleased for Curtis and his family,” said Scott Swier.
You can read more about the case in an article from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader here.
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