Guilty plea in high-tech cattle rustling

By Joy Powell
Star Tribune, Minneapolis
 The former manager of a South St. Paul cooperative has pleaded guilty to a long-running scheme in which he embezzled more than $1.4 million by faking cattle sales – then gambled the loot at casinos.
 Barry J. May, 45, of Randolph, Minn., pleaded guilty Wednesday in Dakota County District Court to four felonies that account for $700,000 to $800,000 in losses for his former employer, Central Livestock Association (CLA).
 It was a high-tech cattle rustling scheme in which May made up fake sales invoices and processed more than 2,200 fraudulent transactions.
 Authorities used tax laws to corral May and his wife, Shelly F. May. They were charged in March with underreporting their gross income by at least $1.03 million from 2001 to 2005.
 The Mays each faced eight counts of failing to file state returns, filing false returns and failing to pay their Minnesota income taxes.
 She’s set for a jury trial on May 4. Barry May is to be sentenced Jan. 12.
 District Judge Timothy McManus released May on his own recognizance on Monday but set conditions, including banning him from casinos.
 While he was a manager at CLA, Barry May used his authority as the buyer and seller of cattle to influence personnel within the cooperative for his scheme, court papers say.
 Many transactions appeared to involve "ghost" customers and fictitious cattle.
 But records and witness accounts also show that the cooperative’s money had been used to buy cattle from several farmers, and the animals were then delivered to the Mays’ calf farm in the Cannon Falls area rather than to South St. Paul, where a market had run until it closed for good last spring.
 Records from Mystic Lake Casino show that Barry May racked up more than $1.5 million in gambling activity from January 2000 through January 2006. His wife had similar activity, court records say.
 The cooperative fired Barry May in July 2005 amid an internal investigation.