Bootheel company manager gets seven years in grain embezzlement

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Missouri Bootheel grain company manager was sentenced to seven years in prison in a grain-embezzlement case.

Authorities said Stanley Gaylord, 52, embezzled thousands of bushels of grain stored by farmers at his elevator in Dexter, Mo.

Gaylord, the managing partner of Gaylord Grain, pleaded guilty Wednesday to four counts of stealing, two counts of forgery and one count of filing false records.

Stoddard County Prosecutor Briney Welborn said $150,000 also was deposited as partial restitution, with a judge to determine May 19 how the money should be distributed.

Money is expected to be paid to the farmers who lost the grain they had stored at the elevator, according to state Department of Agriculture officials.

Bankruptcy proceedings continue with Gaylord Grain.