Robert Crowder appeared in Weld County Court before Judge Allison Esser on June 11 charged with illegal branding, a class-6 felony, and attempting to influence a public official, a class-4 felony. Brand Commissioner Todd Inglee said it was the first case to bring brand laws before a judge in several years. Crowder was found not guilty, an outcome Inglee said was disappointing, but doesn’t diminish the importance of the laws or the seriousness with which the Brands Division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture takes the crimes.

The Brand Division predates the state of Colorado and livestock theft, once a hanging crime, is difficult to convict. Because most livestock producers are law-abiding citizens and due to the dedication of the state’s brand inspectors, few cases of livestock crimes make it before the bench.

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Crowder’s case, however, did and the eyes of livestock producers across the state were on the hearing.

Crowder allegedly purchased 34 head of calves from another producer in June of 2023. He hauled them to rodeos and used them throughout the summer as roping calves. He did so without a permit through the brand office, and without paying for the calves. A recording of a colorful conversation between debtor and payee was played in court, though the balance remained unpaid. Then, according to the court proceedings, Crowder branded the calves with his brand, signifying ownership, and sought to sell the calves. The original seller who still owned them discovered this and, months later, the two were in court.

Eventually, a third party purchased the calves and paid the original seller directly the $22,000 owed.

There are some quite sophisticated cattle rustling schemes, but this isn’t one of them. In one case, cattle feeder Cody Easterday in Washington swindled Tyson out of millions of dollars by creating a “ghost herd” of 265,000 head of cattle and charging for their purchase, feed and care. It’s likely the magnitude of the scam affected the price consumers pay for beef. For context, Easterday was ordered to pay $244 million, which, according to the Department of Justice’s sentencing recommendation, is enough to fund the area’s entire police budget for eight years.

In watching the court hearing, it was apparent there were two distinctly different languages spoken in the courtroom. There was the language spoken by the judge and attorneys and the language spoken by those who appeared to speak about the difference between calves and steers and of brand inspections and rodeo permits. It left me confused and thinking the defense attorney successfully heeded the advice I once received: if you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit. Even though I am able to speak both languages with some proficiency, I was confused.

Despite the lack of sophistication demonstrated by Crowder and his alleged crimes, livestock theft isn’t as it was once depicted in western movies when the good guys and the bad guys are clearly identifiable. There are significant dollars at stake and because the crimes likely don’t make as much sense to judges, juries and attorneys as a shoplifting case or a robbery or the other types of crimes that so often clutter the nightly news, they are difficult to prosecute.

Inglee and the brand supervisors and inspectors around the state are continuing to reach out to the offices of district attorneys and law enforcement to guide them and support them through these unfamiliar crimes. Judges, of course, serve at the pleasure of the people, and if in livestock theft cases or any other cases aren’t making the decisions supported by voters, those voters have recourse on their ballot.

As much as I dislike the term “urban-rural divide” we spend so much time lamenting, it was on full display in Weld County court last week. The same brand laws penned in 1865 apply to livestock crimes today, something notably impressive. It speaks to the wisdom of those upon whose shoulders the brand board stands. It also speaks to the relevance of brands and brand laws, which are as important now as in the 1800s. With brand inspectors deterring theft by inspecting some 4 million head of livestock annually, the security of the multi-billion-dollar livestock industry is protected for the benefit of producers and consumers alike.

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agriculture publication. Gabel is a daughter of the state’s oil and gas industry and a member of one of the state’s 12,000 cattle-raising families, and she has authored children’s books used in hundreds of classrooms to teach students about agriculture.