Scammer Created Hoax To Exploit Montana Ranchers

Ranching in Montana is hard enough without worrying about potential scams targeting ag operations.

Unfortunately, that threat became a reality for a few ranchers in the area.

It's common knowledge that hay is a hot commodity in Montana, especially in the summer of 2021 when widespread drought impacted the state.

Hay Scam In Montana

According to court documents, during the hay shortage in 2021, Logan, 43-year-old Kansas resident Jory D. Parks, devised a scheme to fraud a Rancher in search of hay.

Park placed advertisements on Facebook claiming that he was selling large amounts of hay and was willing to bring that hay to Montana and Wyoming.

Park was operating under the business name Heart Cross Ranch, LLC.

Parks received money from customers in exchange for the promise to deliver hay.

Instead of making the hay deliveries, Parks used the money for unrelated business and personal expenses and made numerous false promises about when he would deliver the hay.

Montana Ranch Family Impacted By Scam

A ranch family from Ingomar, Montana, was a scam victim.

The couple signed a contract with Parks to buy 190 tons of hay at $43,300 and made a down payment of $21,650.

Only 23 tons of the 190 tons of hay that was purchased was ever delivered.

Man Pleads Guilty To Hay Scam

By September 2021, it became evident that Parks was defrauding Rancher in Montana and Wyoming by trying to convince them that he was selling high-quality hay.

According to the court documents, he told the victims that he had sold all of the hay the previous year to a horse racing facility in Nebraska.

Officials were able to confirm that this statement was false.

Parks pled guilty to wire fraud and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.

Read Next: Life on the Hi-Line Calendar Contest Seeking Entries