Lindale man pleads guilty to cattle theft

SMITH COUNTY — A former ranch manager was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to cattle theft. According to our news partner KETK, Jesus Sergio Perez-Sanchez, 67, was first investigated back in Dec. 2021, where he was accused of putting three yearlings up for auction and placed one of them in his name without the landowner’s consent. He was then accused of taking a bull and a cow to an auction where he placed the cow under his own name, again, without the landowner’s consent. Perez-Sanchez was arrested for two counts of theft in March 2022 after officials said the landowner “noticed discrepancies in cattle sales and called Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Rangers.” According to Smith County judicial records Perez-Sanchez pleaded guilty to theft of cattle/horse/exotic livestock less than $150,000 on Dec. 8. He was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday.