Vero Beach resident Scott Eric Smith, convicted and sentenced in Okeechobee County to 20 years in prison plus 10 years probation for selling cattle stolen from a local ranch and keeping the $279,000 proceeds, faces a second trial here in Vero this month for second-degree grand theft from the ranch, plus a firearms charge.

The case involves a cast of characters that could only be assembled in Florida – including a reality TV contestant who makes craft whiskey, and a guy awaiting sentencing on federal corruption and money laundering – with a plot resembling novels by prolific 32963 author Carl Hiaasen.

Smith, 54, was arrested on Oct. 27, 2020, when a “fugitive from justice” warrant popped up during a traffic stop, and he was caught with a shotgun he was not authorized to carry as a convicted felon.

When the Sunshine State is finished with Smith on his local charges, he is wanted in Wyoming on 31 counts of cattle rustling, theft and forgery. In addition to cattle rustling, Smith’s alleged exploits include scamming wealthy hunting enthusiasts via a private adventure guide scheme.

Having served time in California and on the lam from crimes in Wyoming, Smith apparently tried to re-make himself – settling into a rented home in Vero’s quiet McAnsh Park neighborhood and taking a job as ranch manager at Bhakta Farms, a Vermont-based company which had its sights on raising crossbreed Angus and Wagyu cattle.

Owned by former contestant on “The Apprentice” reality show and distiller of high-end spirits Raj Bhakta, the 900-acre ranch sits 4 miles west of the Vero Beach Outlets on State Road 60.

To make way at the ranch for the pricier designer beef cattle he was to purchase out of state, Smith said he sold the existing herd to the Okeechobee Livestock Market. But Smith ran afoul with the law when he deposited the money in his own bank account instead of turning the money over to Bhakta Farms.

Court records show Smith and his wife went on a shopping spree with the cash, and among other things purchased a Corvette and a fully loaded Chevy Tahoe.

It took time for Smith’s local cattle rustling to come to light, as his bosses at Bhakta Farms managed the finances remotely from Poultney, Vermont, near the company’s previously owned distillery of small-batch WhistlePig whiskey. Poultney has only about 3,000 people, but the region boasts more than two dozen craft distilleries and wineries.

When Bhakta’s accountant discovered the cattle gone and sale proceeds missing in November 2020 after hearing of Smith’s arrest involving a company shotgun and vehicle, Smith attempted to cast blame for the thefts on his lone on-site supervisor, Gustavo Adolfo Hernandez Frieri.

At the time, Hernandez Frieri was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2019 as part of a racketeering, corruption and money laundering case spanning from Miami to South America to Spain where Hernandez Frieri was captured. Charges involved a $12 million bribe of Venezuelan government officials.

The Bhakta Farms finance director, in a Zoom deposition from out of state, confirmed that Hernandez Frieri was acting as Smith’s supervisor in the summer and fall of 2020, and told Smith’s defense attorney if he wanted to know more, he could search the internet. The federal case and Hernandez Frieri’s messy divorce were covered extensively by the Miami media, making a cattle ranch in rural Indian River County the perfect spot to lay low.

Smith hoped investigators in the cattle-rustling case would believe that he was a pawn in a larger scheme, merely following Hernandez Frieri’s instructions, but Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell said after Smith’s sentencing, that strategy did not work in the short, efficient trial. “In Okeechobee they don’t mess around when it comes to cattle rustling,” Gosnell said.

After his Okeechobee sentencing, Smith was transferred to the Indian River County Jail to  await his Vero trial.

The case has seen a revolving door of attorney handoffs on both sides over the past five years. Smith had various private attorneys who withdrew from the case due to unreconcilable differences (which typically means they stopped getting paid). He has been declared indigent and is now represented by a public defender.

Assistant State Attorney Elise Kearney took over prosecuting the Vero case from Assistant State Attorney Patrick O’Brien. Kearney said last week that she could not divulge whether she’ll call Hernandez Frieri to testify about the ranch’s operations and Smith’s crimes.

Federal court records show Hernandez Frieri was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and fined $50,000 in May 2021, but appealed the sentence saying he was only a bit player in the scheme. Federal inmate records show he has not been in custody since October 2023.

Smith’s case is one of the oldest Circuit Court Judge Robert Meadows inherited from Judge Dan Vaughn after the felony case backlog mounted due to courts all-but-halting for seven months during the Covid pandemic.

Kearney said she has two cases which are slightly older than Smith’s, so depending upon whether any of the three defendants take a plea, Smith’s trial could get continued to later this summer.