Men accused of stealing cattle to stand trial
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RIGBY — Two ranchers accused of stealing cattle will each stand trial for four felonies.
Jared and Heath Lewis, both of Rigby, were in court during a preliminary hearing on March 14, but the decision to move forward with the case was not made until Monday, April 18.
Court documents show that Heath and Jared Lewis with Double L Farms Inc. in Rigby each have been charged with four felonies for allegedly rebranding cattle and removing ear tags from cows that didn’t belong to them.
EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Heath Lewis in Febuary. Lewis said the charges against them are the result of a misunderstanding.
“We are not denying that one of the cows were rebranded, but it was only one,” Heath Lewis said. “It’s not even a question because it happened. But did we try to steal it? Kill it? Butcher it? Sell it? No. We aren’t felons or crooks. We didn’t criminally try to take their cows.”
The Lewis brothers say they were surprised that charges were filed.
“We have never branded one of their (Ririe-based Foster Land & Cattle Co.) cows on purpose before, we have never tried to steal before, so I don’t know why they are coming after us,” Heath Lewis said. “We gave them permission to go through our cows. We trusted that they would go get anything that belonged to them. We cooperated in every way possible to get their cows back.”
Jared and Heath Lewis were not arrested on the charges.
The brothers will be arraigned May 9.
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