Forty-three-year-old Jory Parks of Logan, KS, admitted to defrauding Montana and Wyoming ranchers who were looking to buy hay for their livestock during a drought.
Parks pled guilty to wire fraud after scamming ranchers on Facebook during a 2021 drought that created hay shortages for ranchers. Parks received money from customers in exchange for promises to deliver hay but used the money for unrelated business and personal expenses and made false promises about what he would deliver, according to the Department of Justice.
“Parks’ calculated and callous behavior demands a significant probationary sentence and an aggressive restitution payment schedule,” U.S. Attorney Jesse A. Laslovich wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Parks was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Billings, MT, to five years of probation and was given 20 years to pay his victims back against his $103,721.05 debt, required to pay at least $500 per month.
