Ex-pork buyer dies in Iowa crash following fraud indictment

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A former manager for an influential Iowa-based pork dealer has died in a crash, days after federal prosecutors charged him in a scheme to swindle hog farmers through fraudulent buying practices.

Steven Demaray, 70, the former regional buying manager for Lynch Livestock, was driving a truck that crashed head-on Monday morning into a concrete overpass support pier on Highway 63 near New Hampton, where he lived, according to the Iowa State Patrol.

Demaray, who was known by his nickname “Shooter,” was the only person in the vehicle and died at a hospital. An accident report released Tuesday gave no indication why the truck left the road and entered the median before the crash, but said the conditions were dry.

As part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office in Cedar Rapids, a federal grand jury on Nov. 4 indicted Demaray and former Lynch Livestock bookkeeper Billie Joe Wickham on two counts of mail fraud.

Demaray pleaded not guilty during his initial court appearance Nov. 10 and was free on bond.

Lynch Livestock, a licensed livestock dealer, operates buying stations in Iowa and several other states where hog farmers and producers sell their animals. The company, which is owned by major Republican donor and philanthropist Gary Lynch, then supplies hogs to processing plants for major pork brands around the country.

Lynch sent a note to employees Monday saying he had a “sad heart” to share the news of Demaray’s death. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they make it through this difficult time,” he wrote.

The indictment alleged that, in 2016 and 2017, Demaray and Wickham systematically cheated farmers who sold swine to Lynch Livestock buying stations. Both worked at the company's headquarters in Waucoma, Iowa.

When Demaray would...