Cattle rancher pleads guilty to fraud

(Tulsa-AP) -- A Pawnee cattleman admitted today he created a scheme to defraud three banks out of more than 700-thousand dollars.

David A. Waters pleaded guilty to defrauding a Pawnee bank and two Kansas banks in 1997. He told a Tulsa judge he was trying to save his financially troubled D-W Cattle Company.

The 52-year-old says he had lost about three (m) million dollars in the cattle business. He then began floating checks between bank accounts.

That allowed him to use the banks to finance his operation without money or collateral.

He is scheduled to be sentenced April 10.