Livestock Dealer Accepts Suspension

Vernon “Bud” Brandenburg, a Spokane livestock dealer who was charged last month with issuing bad checks totaling $762,547, has agreed to stay out of the business for at least six months.

In agreeing to the cease-and-desist order, Brandenburg neither admitted nor denied charges brought against him in September by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The department charged Brandenburg and his company, Western Cattle Inc., with repeatedly violating the Packers and Stockyards Act over a 10-month period in 1993-94. The Act protects ranchers and dealers from unfair or deceptive marketing of meat and poultry.

Brandenburg may request that the suspension be lifted after 180 days if he can show that all unpaid livestock sellers have been paid in full. Otherwise, the suspension remains in effect for five years.

, DataTimes