Man pleads guilty in Charlotte to $1 million worth of cattle thefts

A man pleaded guilty in federal court in Charlotte on Friday to conspiring to use bad checks to steal 3,000 cattle. Prosecutors say William Dalton Edwards, 25, and a co-conspirator hit livestock sellers in Iredell County, Cleveland County, Texas and Oklahoma with checks they knew were worthless. The duo then spirited the cattle they bought out of state before the checks bounced, leaving the livestock sellers—which prosecutors say are family-owned businesses—to eat the losses, which totaled more than $1 million. Edwards was released on bond pending sentencing. He faces up to five years in prison.