A woman serving time in the thefts of rodeo horses and equipment at Southern Arkansas University was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading no contest to accusations of helping to steal cattle.
Wendi Nicole Cox changed her plea to no contest and was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Circuit Judge Tom Cooper in the Little River County Courthouse in Ashdown on Monday.
Cox was accused of helping to steal 15 head of cattle at the East Ogden ranch of Kenneth Mattheson, who attending the hearing.
A “written stipulation of evidence” document was filed in the circuit clerk’s office outlining Cox’s role in stealing the cattle. The document was filed after Cox changed her plea and wassentenced to prison.
The cattle theft was discovered Oct. 26, 2011, when Mattheson returned to his ranch and found the gate open and the lock gone, along with the cattle. The heifers were valued at $10,500.
It was June 2012 before law-enforcement agencies received a tip about the missing cattle. The heifers had been sold at Idabel Stockyard in Oklahoma by William Hamilton and George Berish III.
The stipulation of evidence document said Cox drove the truck and trailer out of sight while Hamilton and Berish herded the cattle. Then, she drove the truck and trailer to the location where the cattle were loaded, the document said, adding that she then drove the truck and trailer back to Oklahoma.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 14 on 07/21/2013