Haskell Woman Convicted Of Concealing Stolen Cattle

A jury in Bryan County convicted a Haskell woman Tuesday night of knowingly concealing stolen cattle.

Thursday, October 9th 2014, 11:08 am

By: Richard Clark

Haskell Woman Convicted Of Concealing Stolen Cattle

A jury in Bryan County convicted a Haskell woman Tuesday night of knowingly concealing stolen cattle.

The jury recommended Christen Leeann Allen, 31, serve two years in jail and pay a $500 fine.

According to court documents, Allen sold ten head of cattle at the Durant Stockyards on October 10, 2013. The documents say the cattle had been stolen from a ranch in Okmulgee County.

The case began when a special ranger with the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, who is also commissioned by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations, got a call from Watson Langford on October 11, 2013. Langford owns Langford Hereford Ranch in Okmulgee.

He reported to the ranger that the ranch was missing 13 cattle. Three of them were Angus cows with his brand on them. Two of them were year old registered and branded Hereford bulls and eight were registered but unbranded Hereford bull and heifer calves that had ear tags and identification numbers tattooed in their left ears.

The ranger reported that the owners of the Durant Stockyards contacted him a week later and told him they suspected stolen cattle had been sold in their auction on October 10.

The ranger tracked down eight of the 13 cattle and confirmed they had come from the Langford ranch. He said the buyers told him Allen had claimed to have raised the cattle herself. According to the ranger, Allen used her middle name, as well as her juvenile son's name, when she had the buyers make out checks to her.

According to his report, the ranger believed Allen deliberately passed sale barns close to her home and traveled several hours to Durant in order to mislead investigators.

On Tuesday, October 7, 2014, a jury found her guilty of knowingly concealing stolen property, a felony. Formal sentencing is set for November 10, 2014.