By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.ent

WICHITA -- A Colby man has been convicted in U.S. District Court on a single count of selling mortgaged cattle.

Meanwhile, two other people have been indicted on charges stemming from incidents in Downs and in Russell County.

In the cattle case, Travis L. Siebert, 26, Colby, was convicted Tuesday of selling cattle mortgaged to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm Service Agency and converting the money to his own use, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.

During trial, prosecutors presented evidence Siebert received three loans totaling $115,000 used to purchase a bull, 60 cows and 90 feeder calves.

The animals were pledged as collateral on the loan. In 2007, with approximately $84,000 remaining on the loans, he fell behind on loan payments.

He sold the mortgaged livestock from Dec. 17, 2007, to March 26, 2010. The cattle were sold under the names of at least three other people and he went as far as Monte Vista, Colo., to sell them, Grissom said in the statement.

In May 2009, he created a corporation, Cow Heaven Ranch LLC, to sell cattle and pay himself.

Sentencing will be at a later date, and Siebert could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Unrelated to the Siebert case, indictments were handed down Wednesday in Topeka.

A Topeka grand jury returned an indictment against Debra L. Blasko, 58, Glendale, Calif., on a charge of theft of mail by an employee of the U.S. Postal Service.

The indictment alleges Blasko, an employee at the Downs Post Office, on three occasions in 2010 -- July 2, 5 and 9 -- stole packages containing the pain killer hydrocodone.

She could face five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

In the final case, Jesus Sotelo-Lopez, 36, Sinaloa, Mexico, is charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The crime is alleged to have occurred Jan. 5 in Russell County.

If convicted, he faces 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.