A man found guilty by a Cherokee County jury in May of this year (2017) in connection with a Cattle Rustling charge from 2015 has been sentenced. The theft of the cattle actually took place in 2014.

36 year old Michael Chad Stephens of Cedar Bluff, had been found guilty of Receiving Stolen Property 1st Degree – and had a probation revocation on a 2013 charge of Receiving Stolen Property. According to the sentence handed down this week by Ninth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Shaunathan Bell – Stephens will have nine months to serve, with a total of 69 months on Cherokee County Community Corrections, and must also pay $8,000 in restitution based upon the combined charges. The sentences will run consecutively with probation following jail time.

According to Deputy District Attorney Scott Lloyd, Stephens – who was living in Boaz at the time, stole cattle from a pasture close to his home and delivered them to a farm in Cherokee County, reportedly selling them for about half of what they were actually worth.