Joshua and Jason Link

Introduction

Joshua Robert Link, formerly of Strafford, Missouri, and Jason Allen Link, of Herington, Kansas, are brothers who were convicted by a federal jury in Fort Worth on 10 November 2026 for their roles in a $240 million cattle-investment fraud run through Fort Worth-based Agridime LLC that defrauded more than 2,200 victims across the United States . The verdict followed a six-day trial before U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman . Joshua Link, Agridime’s co-owner and executive director, was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering; Jason Link, who owned Shady Brook Ranch LLC and worked as an Agridime livestock broker and meat chain director, was found guilty of one count of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering .

Background Information

Agridime sold cattle investment contracts to the public, promising investors they could buy an individual steer or heifer for $2,000 online, with the money represented as going to purchase, raise, process and sell that specific animal . From January 2021 through December 2023 the company collected more than $240 million from investors while selling contracts for approximately 60,000 more cattle than it actually controlled . Trial evidence showed purchaser funds went to operating expenses, loan payments, payments owed to earlier purchasers, and excessive salaries and commissions — from 2022 to 2023 Joshua and Tia Link received over $2.7 million and operations director Jed Wood over $2.4 million . The jury also found the brothers conspired to defraud Agridime itself, submitting fraudulent feed and yardage requests from November 2021 through January 2024 that caused the company to pay over $2.7 million to Jason Link’s Shady Brook entity for services never provided .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted at trial of wire fraud and money laundering in a $240 million scheme.

Prosecutors proved the brothers executed cattle contracts that falsely represented investor money would fund specific individual cattle, used new investor money to pay earlier investors in Ponzi fashion, overstated Agridime’s cattle holdings to banks, private lenders and feedlots to secure financing, and diverted proceeds to luxury personal spending — including $1,498,275 paid to a construction company for a five-bedroom, four-bathroom “barndominium” in Herington, Kansas built for the brothers’ recreational use, plus checks for solar panel installations and plumbing supplies . U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said: “Instead of building a legitimate cattle business, the Link brothers ran a high-tech Ponzi scheme, siphoning away hard-earned life savings to build luxury retreats and line their own pockets” . FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said the convictions reflected the brothers’ “calculated efforts to lure prospective investors into their multi-million-dollar scheme” . Four co-defendants pleaded guilty before trial: Jed Hansel Wood (operations director, March 25), Tia Makenzie Link (marketing director, June 17), Taylor Orris Bang (cattle broker, September 9) and Royana Jane Thomas (financial controller, November 4) .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Over 2,200 individual victims across the country paid Agridime for specific cattle under contracts based on the defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentations, and the case became the Northern District of Texas’s marquee investor-fraud conviction of the week . Raybould said the verdict “sends an unmistakable message: this office will fiercely defend hard-working citizens from predatory fraudsters and ensure that those who exploit investors are held fully accountable under the law” . Each brother faces up to 20 years per wire-fraud and conspiracy count and up to 10 years per money-laundering count at sentencing on 4 March 2027 .

Current Status

Joshua and Jason Link were convicted on 10 November 2026 and are scheduled for sentencing on 4 March 2027 . They also face supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties, in amounts the court will determine at sentencing . The four pleaded co-conspirators await their own sentencings under the charges they admitted .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The verdict ends Agridime’s cattle-contract business permanently and converts both brothers from company executives to convicted felons facing decades of combined exposure . The luxury barndominium financed with diverted investor money stands as the case’s symbol of where the $240 million went, and the forfeiture and restitution phase of the case will pursue the brothers’ assets when they return for sentencing .

Sources

• “Federal jury convicts brothers in massive $240 million cattle investment fraud” — U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas, via NTXE-News: source