Funny business in the Delta: Farmer, bankers accused of racketeering

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Litigation in state and federal courts have shed light on accusations that three banks in the region conspired in a racketeering scheme with a large farmer and a Delhi certified public accounting firm to bilk millions of dollars from five farmers as well as to avoid payments owed to agribusiness lenders and others.

The allegations are centered on farmer Thomas “Tommy” Dickerson, of Delhi, whose financial affairs were handled by David Stephens, a tax preparer with Pickett & Co. CPA of Delhi, as well as by Lawrence “Larry” Pickett Jr., owner of Pickett & Co. CPA. The three banks supporting Dickerson's operations by allegedly ignoring or circumventing banking regulations are Commercial Capital Bank of Delhi, Caldwell Bank & Trust Co. of Columbia and Franklin State Bank of Winnsboro. Pickett also is the chairman of Commercial Capital Bank's board of directors.

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The lawsuit, Scott Higdon and others v. Thomas A. Dickerson and others, was filed Feb. 22. The suit claimed the defendants conspired against five plaintiffs who were recruited by Dickerson to help farm his 20,000 acres. The plaintiffs include the Higdons as well as William “Jake” Casiday, Kevin Ward, Joseph “Blake” Lively and Shawn Tibbs. Ward is from Ouachita Parish, the Higdons from Richland Parish, and the others are from Franklin Parish.

According to the Higdon lawsuit, filed by Monroe attorney Sedric Banks, Dickerson recruited the plaintiffs and convinced them to let Pickett & Co. prepare their personal tax returns as part of a scheme to organize farming operations for Dickerson.

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In March 2016, fraud, theft, money laundering, forgery and racketeering were exposed, only after “as much as $30 million was discovered missing in mortgaged crops, crops placed in the government loan program, forged checks, etc.,” according to the Higdon lawsuit.

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Fifth Judicial District Court Judge Terry Doughty was assigned the Agrifund case, in which Stephens is a defendant.

Both Secretary of State records and a letter written by Doughty as part of the court record in Stowe v. Jordan indicate Doughty and Stephens were in business together at one time.

Doughty also is presiding over Stowe v. Jordan, in which Stephens is a defendant. In spite of Doughty's past as Stephens' business associate, Doughty has not recused himself from Stowe v. Jordan, though a motion to recuse him from that case is pending.

As reported last month by The Sun, Doughty tried to avoid recusing himself from Stowe v. Jordan by writing a letter to counsel, acknowledging his relationship with Stephens. In his letter, Doughty asked counsel to discuss the matter of recusal with their clients.

Stephens' attorney, Adam Cossey of Monroe, reported no objection. Banks, who represents plaintiffs in both Stowe v. Jordan and in the Higdon lawsuit, filed the motion to recuse Doughty, which is expected to be taken up later this month.

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