Central Valley Corporate Insider Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Role in Stealing Nearly $5 Million in Livestock Feed Ingredients

Shawn Sawa, 49, formerly of Clovis, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston to 18 months in prison for his role in a fraud scheme that stole millions of dollars' worth of canola, used to make livestock feed, from international food processors, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, from 2015 through 2017, Sawa and co-defendant Richard Best stole $4.8 million worth of canola from international food processors. They then sold the canola for a windfall.

Sawa and Best carried out the scheme through Best's now defunct train-to-truck transloading company, Richard Best Transfer Inc. (RBT). A transloading company transfers commodities from one mode of transportation to another mode. The victim food processors sent hundreds of thousands of tons of their canola to RBT for delivery to their customers. Sawa was the Fresno area manager for one of the victim food processors from whom he and Best stole canola. Sawa initially received kickback payments from Best to try to increase the supply of canola that RBT received from that food processor before they began their scheme.

Sawa and Best sold the stolen canola through an acquaintance in Texas who used to work in the livestock-feed industry. The acquaintance sold the stolen canola to farms and dairies and distributed the proceeds according to Best's instructions. This included wire transfers to Sawa, Best, and RBT's bank accounts. The account that Sawa used was opened in his spouse's name to try to conceal the scheme.

Throughout the scheme, Sawa and Best caused RBT to email fraudulent inventory reports to the victim food processors representing that RBT had certain amounts of their canola in-stock when, in fact, RBT had significantly lesser amounts. Sawa and Best used the proceeds from the scheme to purchase luxury homes and multiple vehicles, take trips, hire private karate teachers, and cover RBT's operating expenses, among other expenses.

Shortly before the scheme was discovered, Best gave Sawa an old cellphone that had belonged to Best's deceased mother. Best did so because he was afraid that the victim food processor for whom Sawa worked was onto their scheme and was monitoring communications on Sawa's company issued devices. They then used the old cellphone to secretly communicate with each other in furtherance of the scheme.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cody Chapple, Chan Hee Chu, and Joseph Barton are prosecuting the case.

Best pleaded guilty on Oct. 14, 2025, three weeks before his trial was supposed to start and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 2, 2026. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.