A Texas man is facing criminal charges in two cases involving Alfalfa County residents.

According to court records, Special Agent Paul Cornett, assigned to the investigative unit of the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, looked into a report of hay picked up in Alfalfa County without payment. He learned that during December 2017, Roland Pederson began communication with a man who identified himself as Dean Ewing, a Texas resident.

Pederson and Ewing reached a verbal agreement that Ewing would purchase two semi-trailer loads of alfalfa hay, paying Pederson $135 a ton. They agreed that Ewing could bring a check for both loads when he picked up the second load of hay.

On Jan. 12, 2018, Ewing went to the Burlington Co-op to weigh his trailer and proceeded to Pederson’s farm. Pederson’s employee used a tractor to load the hay. Another trip to the co-op showed the hay weighed 44,900 lbs.

On Jan. 18 Ewing returned to the Pederson farm, after getting a weight at the co-op. He said he had forgotten to bring the check for payment but would like to purchase a third load of hay. Pederson and Ewing agreed he could bring the check when he returned for the third load. The second load of hay weighed 43,300 lb.

Ewing never returned for the third load of hay and never paid for the two loads he had picked up. On Jan. 31, Ewing texted Pederson asking for his address and said “I’ll get you taken care of.” Pederson texted his address and has not received any payment. The total value of the hay, approximately 44.1 tons at $135 a ton, is $5,900.

On March 6 in Alfalfa County, Warren Dean Ewing, 51, of Dodson, Texas, was charged with obtaining or attempting to obtain property by trick or deception, false statements or pretenses or confidence game, a felony. This crime is punishable by imprisonment in the State Penitentiary for a term not more than ten years, or by a fine not to exceed $5,000, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Also on March 18, a felony bogus check charge was filed against Dean Ewing, alias Warren Dean Ewing, with an address of Hollis, Oklahoma. Ewing is charged with giving an employee of Curtis Newlin a check for $8,633.60 that was not honored by the bank due to not having sufficient funds in his account.

Ewing appeared with his attorney on March 12 on both charges. Bond was set at $1,500 in each case. He has posted an appearance bond, and his next appearance in court is set for April 4.