A veterinarian and a cattle company were recently indicted for using false interstate certificates of veterinary inspection to ship tens of thousands of cattle interstate, which is a violation of federal law.

The announcement was made by Robert M. Duncan Jr., U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Karen Citizen-Wilcox, special agent in charge with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General; William Swartz, area director with the USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, and Mark McCormack, special agent in charge with the Food & Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.

A federal grand jury in Lexington, Ky., returned an indictment charging Eugene Barber & Sons Inc., a cattle company based in Lexington, with one count of conspiracy, one count of moving cattle in violation of federal law and one count of aiding and abetting a false statement. The indictment also charges veterinarian John M. Moran, 64, of Flemingsburg, Ky., with one count of conspiracy, one count of aiding and abetting moving cattle in violation of federal law and one count of making a false statement.

The indictment alleges that Barber & Sons and Moran conspired to violate the Animal Health Protection Act, which protects the health and welfare of the public by preventing, detecting and eradicating the spread of diseases in animals that are shipped within the U.S. Federal law requires that an accredited veterinarian inspect cattle prior to their shipment and then file certificates attesting to that inspection with appropriate state authorities. The indictment alleges that Moran falsely certified that he had inspected the cattle Barber & Sons had shipped when, in fact, he had merely pre-signed the interstate certificate of veterinary inspection without inspecting the cattle. According to the indictment, between Jan. 28, 2013, and Sept. 25, 2015, Moran certified at least 600 false interstate certificates of veterinary inspection for shipment of more than 60,000 cattle. In exchange, he was paid more than $19,000 by Barber & Sons.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proved guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.

USDA and FDA are investigating the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate K. Smith is prosecuting the case.