Minnesota Rustler Convicted for Moving Stolen Cattle into Northern Iowa

A Minnesota man who stole cattle from a farmer and sold them in Northeast Iowa pled guilty on May 8, 2026, in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Lawrence “Larry” Patrick Burns, age 48, from Eitzen, Minnesota, was convicted of one count of transportation of stolen livestock.

In a plea agreement, Burns admitted that, from at least October 2017 to March 2024, he worked as a farmhand in Minnesota.  From time to time, a farmer directed Burns to transport certain cattle and grain at various locations in Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri, as part of Burns’ employment.  Without the farmer’s knowledge, Burns loaded extra cattle and grain and sold the extra cattle and grain in Burns’ own name.  Burns lied and claimed he owned a portion of the cattle and grain that he was transporting across state lines.  In the plea agreement, Burns admitted he stole at least $150,000 of the farmer’s cattle and grain during this timeframe.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge C.J. Williams will be set after a presentence report is prepared.  Burns remains free on bond previously set pending sentencing.  Burns faces a possible maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Timothy L. Vavricek and was investigated by the Winneshiek County Sheriff’s Office.  

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

The case file number is 26-CR-2002.

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