Wendy Redfern/Getty Images UPDATE: Michael Wayne Carr pleaded guilty to felony theft and forgery and is facing a possible seven-year prison sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 1, when he'll also be ordered to pay $956,000 in restitution to Sutherland and his investment partner.
_________________________________
You have to get up pretty early in the morning to pull a fast one on Jack Bauer. Kiefer Sutherland, on the other hand, is a slightly easier mark.
The 24 star was named as one of the victims of a cattle scam, losing roughly $869,000 in a bogus deal to buy Mexican steers on the cheap and sell them at a steep profit in the U.S.
Unfortunately, Sutherland waited a bit too long to ask that all-important question: Where's the beef?
The answer, it turned out, was nowhere to be seen.
Michael Wayne Carr, a cattle manager in California's San Joaquin County, allegedly roped in plenty of investors with the scam, albeit none who appears to have invested quite as heavily as Sutherland.
Prosecutors say there's no record of Carr ever purchasing cattle with Sutherland's money, and that the steer he did succeed in selling didn't belong to Carr in the first place.
As a result, Carr has been charged with 12 felonies: five counts of grand theft, three counts of forgery, two counts of obtaining money by false pretenses, one count of embezzlement and one count of falsifying corporate books.
Carr's arraignment is set for Feb. 8.
Sutherland, who has a history of cattle ranching and who was once competitive on the rodeo circuit, has yet to comment on the incident.
________
Check out our gallery of Very Important Pets.